What We Could Have Been
by calliopechild
Summary: The feud between the Turtles and the Foot has been long and violent, and Karai is determined to end it. But at what cost? By giving up 'what we could have been'.
1. Rude Awakenings

**_Disclaimer:_** _No, I don't own the Ninja Turtles. If I did, I wouldn't have had to buy the three TMNT DVDs that I have. I could have just gotten them for free. . ._

_I'm finally back! I can't believe how long it's been since I actually updated on here. I figured, "hey, it's summer; that means I'll have nothing BUT free time, right"? Wrong. What with three different trips, and getting ready for college in the fall, I wasn't able to do as much with my stories as I would've liked. And my stupid muse is being selective again, so I've had the middle and almost end of this story for ages, but I haven't been able to find or make myself write the beginning until now. And starting a story in the middle never works well. (lol) But at least I've finally figured out how to start this thing. And since I'm posting again, that will help me do better about working on it because I won't want to disappoint you guys. So hopefully you all will like this story, because I think it will be a pretty neat one. Enjoy!_

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Don woke with a jolt, thrown suddenly out of one of the oddest dreams he'd had in a while; the dream inexplicably involved himself, his brothers, and a group of Triceratons in business suits. His eyes flicked over to check the time, and he groaned to see the numbers read 6:25. _It ought to be illegal to wake up before your alarm is supposed to go off,_ Don thought. His sleep-muddled brain struggled to figure out what had woken him, and when it came up with nothing, promptly decided that going back to sleep was the only sane thing to do. But just as he was about to lie back down, a muffled thump came to his ears, and it clicked in his mind that it was identical to what had woken him in the first place. Don wavered, most of him wanting to just lie down, ignore the noise, and go back to sleep. But as always, there was that one small part of his brain that screamed for him to get out of bed, that shouted that he _knew_ what kind of things went bump in the night.

The tired part of him grumbled, but Don ignored it and quietly climbed out of bed. Grabbing his mask and bo, he softly padded out into the hallway with the intent of checking on his brothers. However, he had barely taken two steps out of his room before Raph appeared in the hallway as well.

Raph's eyes narrowed at the sight of Don also awake and armed with his staff. "So I take it ya heard it too?" he growled quietly.

"Yeah, just a thump of some sort. I came to check it out and see if you guys were alright."

"Same here. I'm freakin' shocked that Leo ain't out here already. With how he sleeps, I woulda expected him to have kicked our shells outta bed by now." Raph snorted, a small grin starting on his face. "That, or to have beat the crap outta whatever the shell it is, _then_ wake us up. Can't figure why he hasn't showed up yet."

"Probably because it's coming from Leo's room," another voice spoke up.

Don and Raph turned to see Mikey emerge from his room too, a tired but wary look on his face.

"You sure?" Raph asked.

Mikey leveled an exasperated look at his brother, clearly not pleased with the early hour. "Bro, my room's right beside his. Yeah, I'm sure it's coming from his room. How long have you guys been out here?"

"Just a couple minutes, Mikey." Don shifted his grip on the bo, glancing at Leo's door, then his brothers. "So how should we do this?"

Both Don and Mikey turned to Raph, expecting him to give an order. But he was staring at Leo's door, a quiet, thoughtful on his face. When a few minutes passed with no movement, Don lightly tapped his brother on the shoulder. "Um, Raph?"

Raph turned, the odd expression still on his face. It melted away quickly, though, and he sent a reassuring look at his brothers. "We're goin' in there," he said quietly. "But don't get freaked out. This is Leo we're talkin' about, Mr. Ever Vigilant Ninja, remember? Ya can't even open the door without 'im knowin' yer there. Besides, I don't think there's anythin' ta worry about." He faced the door again. "I think Leo might jus' be havin' a nightmare."

Mikey just about dropped his nunchucks. "Are you serious? Leo never has nightmares."

"None that he admits to, anyways," Don added, agreeing with his younger brother.

Raph looked at them both. "You got any better explanation? Leo's door ain't open, he didn't come get us, an' other than some weird noises that could be Leo jus' hittin' the wall, there's no noise. An' if I'm rememberin' correctly, we ain't ever been in a fight that's _this_ quiet. 'Sides, if someone did get in, wouldn't all of yer security crap have gone off, Don?"

Mikey chimed in as well, punching Don lightheartedly in the arm. "Dude, Raph's right! _You_ designed all the security doohickeys and stuff around here, and we all know it works. If someone came in, wouldn't there have been like, I don't know, sirens and flashing red lights or something?"

Don glanced at his brother, amused, as he sheathed his bo. "More like 'or something', Mikey. Sirens and flashing red lights would let an intruder know that _we_ know they're here. That's not very ninja-esque, since it gives them a chance to get away or get prepared to fight. The way the system is rigged up, I've got alarms set up in my room to let me know if any of the Lair's sensors have been activated."

"And…?" Raph stood with his arms crossed, smirking at Don. "Did any of yer alarms start freakin' out?"

The purple-clad ninja sighed. "No, Raph, they didn't."

"There ya go." Satisfied, Raph uncrossed his arms and moved towards Leo's door. "Come on, let's go an' see what's freakin' out Fearless Leader already."

One green hand had just reached the doorknob when Mikey spoke up timidly. "Um, Raph? Are ya…sure that's such a good idea?" When Raph just stared at him he continued. "I mean, no offense, bro, but when we've had to wake you up from nightmares—" He rolled his eyes at his brother's growl and quickly changed his words. "I mean, 'bad dreams', you're not exactly the friendliest turtle to be around. And Leo…kinda gets the same way about things like this."

Raph sighed in frustration, waving off his brother's words. "Look, somethin' is goin' on in there, an' whatever it is, it's gonna get taken care of, alright?"

Mikey raised his hands in surrender. "Whatever. It's your call, bro."

"Does anyone else realize how ridiculous we sound?" Don asked, smiling ruefully. "We're getting all riled up over nothing. If it is a nightmare, so what? Everyone has them," he stated, aiming a pointed glanced at Raph. "It's really not a big deal." He looked around and shook his head. "All this over a few noises…I'm switching _all_ of us to decaf."

His brothers were silent while after he spoke, still staring at Leo's door, before Raph snickered.

"Dammit, Don, I hate it when you're right. Screw this, I must be spendin' too much time around Fearless…I'm gettin' my frickin' bandana in a knot." Raph snorted and stretched widely. "C'mon, let's get some breakfast," he said, turning and walking away. "Nothing's gonna happen."

No sooner had he spoken than a crash resounded from Leo's room. Raph turned around and opened the door in a heartbeat, quickly followed by Don and Mike. The red-banded turtle's hand darted to the wall, finding the light switch by instinct, and light flooded the room, drawing startled noises from the three younger turtles.

Their oldest brother was obviously in the middle of a nightmare, and judging by the state of his room, a violent one. Leo's room, normally almost obsessive in its neatness and order, looked worse than Mikey's on a bad day. Everything within reach of Leo's arms and legs had been hit or kicked. His chair was kicked over and lay several feet from his desk. The bedside table had been knocked onto its side, papers and books littering the floor. And at the epicenter of the mess was Leo, twisting and turning violently on his bed. The sheets had been kicked into a muddled clump at the bottom of the mattress, half of them hanging down to the floor.

Mikey gaped at the chaos, then glanced wryly at Don. "So, 'nightmares aren't a big deal', huh? The demolition derby in here would state otherwise."

"So sue me, Mikey. How was I supposed to know he was having such a bad nightmare? He hasn't had one of any kind in almost seven years."

"Enough with the talkin'," Raph said impatiently. "We gonna go in or what?"

He never got his answer, because at that point Leo muttered something in Japanese and twisted suddenly, as though avoiding an attack. Immediately after that he swung his arm and dealt a fierce blow to the stone wall beside him. The sickening crack that resulted echoed around the room, drawing cringes from his brothers. The skin on Leo's knuckles split open on contact, and blood spattered the walls.

Don frowned deeply. "That's it, we need to wake him up or he's going to seriously hurt himself."

"I'm not volunteering for that job," Mikey protested. "I'm worried about Leo seriously hurting _me_."

"We'll try waking him from here first," Don assured him. Clearing his throat, he leaned slightly further into the room. "Leo? Bro, you need to wake up."

There was no response from the sleeping turtle.

"Hey, Leo," Mikey tried next. "Bro, you overslept for practice, and Raph's about to hit me!"

Still nothing but another indiscernible Japanese phrase.

"Yeah, this ain't workin'," Raph muttered, stepping into the room. "_Kora!_ Leo!"

The next moments were nothing but movement.

At Raph's call in Japanese, Leo rolled to the end of his bed and had a katana in his hand in an instant, arm cocked back and ready to throw. Don immediately snapped into action. He spun and lashed out with a foot, knocking Mikey safely to the floor. A mere breath later, Leo's katana was flying towards them.

"Raph, duck!" Don shouted as he shot a kick at the back of his older brother's knees.

_Shh-thwok_!

Don's breath rushed out in a sigh of relief as the sharpened blade sank into the wood of Leo's doorjamb instead of Raph's head.

Raph rose from his forced kneeling position, his eyes wide when he saw the doorjamb. As he fell, his bandana tails had trailed above his head, and Leo's katana had caught and pinned a whole five inches of one tail to the wood. Raph fingered the scant amount of fabric that remained of his bandana tail. _Three inches…_he thought shakily. _Three frickin' **inches**, and I'da been breathin' through my forehead…_ Turning his head to the side, he caught Don's eyes. "Thanks, bro," he croaked, his voice unsteady.

The brainy turtle swallowed hard and stood as well, looking as pale as Raph felt. "Yeah, no problem."

"Guys, look out!"

Mikey's warning shout jerked their attention forward again. Leo had drawn his second sword and lunged towards them, the point aimed at Raph's plastron.

"_Hamato Leonardo, you will **drop your blade**_!"

Don didn't know where the words came from, but they burst out of his mouth on their own, and thankfully, they worked. Leo snapped to a halt, the tip of his blade resting gently against Raph's chest.

And then he opened his eyes.

"Oh, Daimyo…" All hint of color left Leo's face in a rush and the katana clattered to the floor, his grip slackened by shock and horror. The leader's eyes darted around the room, taking in the positions of his brothers and his swords. He finally looked at Don, his expression horrified. "What did I do?"

Don held out a calming hand. "Are you okay, Leo?" He asked, concern taking precedence over his need to answer his brother. "You—"

Leo cut him off. "_What did I **do**_?" he repeated. His brothers could practically see the panic growing in his body.

"It's okay, bro," Mikey assured him quickly. "Nothin' happened. We heard you, um, having trouble sleeping, and we came to make sure you were alright. We opened the door and called for ya, but we couldn't wake you up, so Raph started walking in. You kinda freaked out and threw your katana, but we got outta the way. Then you, um, got up, and then woke up, and…here we are," he said, trying for an easy smile.

Leo almost seemed to deflate, his whole body shaking with relief. He walked backwards and slowly sat down on his bed, propping his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands. The three younger turtles watched anxiously as he remained that way, his chest and shell shuddering because of his ragged breathing.

"Yo, Leo, you alright?" Raph's voice was filled with an unusual concern.

"Get out," Leo intoned heavily, his tone dark.

Raph's brow furrowed. "What? Bro, what's goin' on?"

"I said get out."

The hothead's eyes narrowed. "Stop ignorin' me, Leo. I'm askin' ya if—"

Leo snapped, his head flying up as a rarely-seen rage danced in his eyes. "Dammit, Raphael, get out _now_ or I will put you out!"

Mikey took one look at the black look on Leo's face and grabbed Raph's arm. "Come on, bro," he said quietly, gently tugging him towards the door.

"I ain't goin' nowhere till I figure out what the fu—"

"Not now, Raph," Mikey replied, his voice low. Before the hothead could say another word, his younger brother quickly pulled him out of the room. Angry words streamed behind them, quieting as they got further away.

Don stood silently as he watched them leave, then turned back to look at Leo. Before he could even speak, Leo looked back at the floor. "Please leave, Don," he said quietly.

The purple-banded turtle was slightly surprised. Generally he was the family confidante, something he secretly prided himself on. He was about to ask what was wrong when he pulled himself back. _You're the one they talk to because you don't push_, Don reminded himself. _It's a good habit; don't break it now_. He took a long look at his older brother; tension was evident in the leader's posture and voice. _Especially since it's likely to do more harm than good right now._ Don sighed. "Sure, bro," he answered easily, and laid a careful hand on Leo's shoulder before heading for the door. He paused a moment, one hand on the doorframe, and glanced back over his shoulder. "You know I'm always here when you're ready to talk, Leo."

"That time may not come for a while, Don," Leo murmured.

"That's fine," Don assured him. "With a family like this, I've learned to be patient." He gave his older brother an easy smile and walked out of the room, shutting the door gently behind him.

The instant the door closed behind him, Don sighed and rubbed his eyes. _It's way too early for this kind of thing,_ he thought tiredly. Several minutes passed as he stared at his older brother's door, running the events of the past few days through his head, but he couldn't think of anything that would have triggered any kind of nightmare. Discarding that train of thought, he padded down the stairs, intending to get some coffee from the kitchen. Halfway down he caught sight of Mikey on the couch in front of the TV, staring at the blank screen. Changing course, he walked over and sat down beside him.

"How's Raph?"

The instant after the query left Don's lips, the brother in question stalked out of the kitchen, making a beeline for the dojo. Don shook his head ruefully. "That answers that. I thought you were going to calm him down, Mikey."

The orange-banded turtle spread his hands in protest. "Hey, I did the best I could. Besides, I _did_ calm him down."

Don glanced at Mikey doubtfully. "He didn't look very calm to me. He looked like he was going to go kill the punching bag, something that's doubly disconcerting because of the fact that it's not an animate object to begin with."

"I'm not saying I calmed him down completely," Mikey pointed out, cocking an eye ridge at his brother. "We both know that no one can calm Raph down; Raphie-boy calms down when he's good and ready. I just talked him down a level of angry."

"You 'talked him down a level of angry'?" Don repeated, confusion in his voice. "There are levels?"

Mikey assumed an arrogant pose. "My poor, uneducated Donatello, of_ course_ there are levels of anger for our dear Raphael."

Don rolled his eyes. "Don't try the smart guy thing, Mikey; we both know you can't pull it off."

The younger turtle stuck his tongue out at his brother. "Can so. Anyways, like I was saying before I was so _rudely_ interrupted, Raph's got levels of angry, and you can tell what level he's at by how he goes after the punching bag."

"He's going to go maul the punching bag."

"Well, yeah," Mikey agreed. "But with fists and feet, not sai." At Don's blank look, Mikey elaborated. "After the, um, "incident" in Leo's room, Raph was at the "tear the bag apart with his sai like it's Hun" stage. I've talked him down to the "beat the crap out of the bag while pretending it's Leo" stage. It's progress," he insisted.

Don stared at his brother, his expression exasperated and amused. "I don't know whether to be impressed or disturbed that you've given Raph "anger levels", and that you know them so well."

The orange-clad turtle grinned. "Dude, I live to pester. I have to know Raph's levels. It's the only way I've escaped serious personal injury so far!"

"Mikey, a large part of why you've escaped serious injury so far is also because Leo has saved your shell countless times," Don pointed out.

"Well, yeah, that's part of it," Mikey admitted, grinning. Thrashing noises from the dojo caused the smile to drop off of his face, and he glanced from the dojo to their rooms upstairs. "How is he?" he asked quietly.

"Leo, you mean?" When his brother nodded, Don sighed. Following Mikey's gaze, he shrugged. "I don't know," he said softly. "I really don't. I can't remember seeing Leo like this before. And he didn't even say anything, either; just that he didn't want to talk about it."

Surprise flared on Mikey's face. "Seriously? He didn't say _anything_?"

Don shook his head. "Not a thing."

"Weird. Leo always talks to you. _Everyone_ always talks to you. You're like the Dr. Phil of the family." Mikey's voice and expression turned disgruntled. "I mean, shell, that's pretty much why I risked my shell and dragged Raph outta Leo's room! Well, that and the whole 'keep them from killing each other' thing. But seriously, I figured with Raph gone, Leo might tell you what was buggin' him."

"So did I," Don admitted softly.

Mikey glanced at his brother, catching the downcast tone in his voice. He scooted over closer to Don and nudged him with his shoulder. "Hey, it's alright, bro. It's not you. Leo's just got something under his shell. He's probably a little messed up right now. I mean, he almost skewered and shish kabob-ed Raph right in front of us; it makes sense that he's not gonna want to talk about it right away."

The brainy turtle sighed. "I know, Mikey, it's just…whatever happened really bothered him. And it's Leo, for crying out loud; it takes a lot to shake him. But you saw him in there, he was a wreck. I'm just worried that it'll mess him up."

"I know what you're sayin', Donnie, but to quote a very wise turtle," he grinned and nudged his brother, "'it's Leo, for crying out loud'. He's not the type to get all hot under the shell over a dream."

"You've got a point…but he still places a lot of stock in that kind of thing. I mean, when Master Splinter had that dream about the Shredder, Leo was up for checking it out, no questions asked."

Mikey winced. "Yeah, I forgot about that part…" He groaned suddenly and hit himself on the forehead. "Aw, shell, Sensei. Should we tell him what happened?"

Don cringed as well. _Crap, I forgot Master Splinter was still over at April's_. The past few weeks of the month had been exceedingly rainy, and the dampness had seeped everywhere. All of the turtles were worried about Splinter having to stay in the damp Lair, and after several hours of begging, pleading, and cajoling, they had finally convinced him to stay at April's until things dried up a bit. April had also helped convince the old ninja master, assuring him that she'd be glad of the company. Don smiled inwardly. _She was just as worried about his health as we were; after all, Sensei's not a young rat anymore_. Pulling himself back to the conversation, Don shook his head briskly. "No, we definitely don't want to tell Sensei. If Leo didn't want to tell us about it, he's sure as shell not going to want to talk to Master Splinter about it. Besides, if it was just a bad nightmare, Leo would probably be embarrassed to have Sensei know about it."

"Yeah…so we're just gonna chill with it? Kind of see how Leo ends up takin' everything?" Mikey asked.

Don nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's probably best. It's best for Leo to just deal with this by himself, at least at first. If it's something really bad or hard for him to deal with, he knows he can come to us. But like I said, it's just a nightmare. Nothing that unusual."

"Sweet! That means it's TV time; there's a Superman marathon on, and it's got our name on it."

The brainy turtle grinned and shook his head at his brother, but kept his seat. After that morning, he supposed he could stand some mind-numbing superhero movies. But while Mikey quickly became absorbed with the film, Don couldn't help but have his mind wander back to what he'd said earlier. _'It's just a nightmare'_…

_I hope I was right._

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**A/N: Yay, a new story! I've been working on a few stories this summer, this one mainly, trying to get some of the story built up before I start posting again. And now I've finally gotten the beginning finished. I know it's a kinda short first chapter, but it's a good cut-off point for the story. I don't know why I wasn't able to get this out earlier, but I was crazy busy for a good part of the summer, and for the life of me I couldn't think of how to start this story. (shakes head) I hate it when that happens. But at least there's a story up now. I like the idea I have for this one, and I hope that you will too. Hopefully it will do as well as "Bleeding Heart" did, or better…hey, an author can dream, can't she:D Anyways, here's the first chapter, and please tell me what you think. No, not too much happened, but some stuff happened, and hopefully it grabbed your attention. Please tell me what you think; part of me is like "eh…this needs work". Opinions are welcome and wanted, and if you find any mistakes, please let me know and I'll correct them a.s.a.p. And let me know what you think about the summary and the rating/genre, if you think I should change either one or both. This story will have about the same level of violence and swearing as 'Bleeding Heart' did, so if you guys read that and think that was suitable for a 'T' rating, please let me know. Also, just so everyone is clear on this, here's the timeline: it's after 'Exodus' and the whole 'The Ancient One' thing; so basically, after the whole space fight and Leo going creepy. So now he's all normal-Leo again, and everyone's happy. It's also before the whole tribunal thing, just kind of mashed in there somewhere. XD Oh, and I'll be using the old Lair, the Elyntian one (sp?) for their home, 'cause I know the layout better, and I like it better than the water plant one. :D And as always, reviews always make my day, so I'd be extremely thankful if you'd leave me one, even if it's just "omg, new story, kewl". :D And just as a warning, updates _will_ be sporadic for this story. I'm in my freshman year of college now, so things are going to be a lot busier than they were in high school. But please bear with me, because I will be trying to keep the updates coming. And reviews always help! ;D Thanks a bunch, and I'll talk to you guys next time.**

**R&R, please!**

**P.S. 'Kora' in Japanese means "Hey!" I'm on a Japanese kick lately, so look for a lot more of it in my stories. :D**


	2. Family Matters

_**Disclaimer:** Turtles, me no own. Clear enough? Good. Say what you will about cavemen, they know how to get their point across. :D_

_So here's the second chapter! There's a bit more happening, mainly because this is going to be a kind of busy/full story. Lots of going and such._

…

_That sure cleared things up, huh:b_

_And another random note, I'm changing my mind again; this will be at the new Lair, the water-reservoir/pump-station/whatever-it-is one. I don't want to confuse people, and since no one's really positive about what the new Lair looks like, no one will verbally beat me for where I say things are. Hopefully. XD_

_And for Chapter 1, I didn't really change anything; all I did was give the chapter a title. And…I think that's everything. If I didn't cover it here, it'll be in the A/N at the bottom. And if it's not there either, it's either not important, or I forgot. Now, on to the story!_

_Oh, and a note that pretty much everyone knows, but that I'll put in here anyways:_

Regular text is the story, talking, etc.

_Italic text is thoughts._

_Okey dokey? Okey dokey. Go, read, enjoy:D_

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Leo's eyes were shut tightly as he worked his way through yet another kata.

_I can't **believe** I **did** that_.

Strike. Parry. Counterattack.

_I could have hurt them. I could have **killed** them. My **brothers**!_

Block. Back stance. Double strike.

_All because of that stupid nightmare_—

His subconscious suddenly broke in. _'Not "nightmare", "premonition".'_

Leo cursed and sheathed his blades, sitting down on his bed heavily. He'd been shut in his room ever since his brothers had left, working out his frustration and dismay through katas and exercises. But as much as he'd been practicing to calm and collect himself, he'd also been practicing to avoid the thought that the small voice of his subconscious had just presented so bluntly.

Because in the pit of his stomach, he knew that the voice was right.

Shudders ran through his body as images from the dream flashed through his mind, the memories creeping back like a relapse. He clenched his fists, squeezing so hard that the nails threatened to break the skin, but the nightmare returned for an encore. The sickening clarity grabbed his mind for the second time, and once again, everything felt so real…so exact…

So terrifying.

_No. NO. Once was enough. I don't need…I don't WANT to SEE that again!_

His eyes squeezed shut as he tried to hold the dream back. He cast about with his mind frantically, trying to focus on his family, his brothers. But that just reminded him of the events of the morning, and their questions.

"_What's wrong, Leo? Was it a nightmare?"_

_No,_ he thought helplessly as the vision swallowed him again. _It was real. And _that's_ what's wrong…_

And then he was lost, falling into the same sudden darkness that had grabbed him the night before.

_-It was nighttime, a cold breeze blowing through the tails of his bandana. Flashes of white light highlighted him and his brothers as they sped across the rooftops, dashing in and out of the beams of moonlight that escaped from the cloudy sky-_

_-a sense of urgency, of worry. Knowing they had to get to April's place, and fast. Karai was going to-_

_-a moving tide of black, descending upon them, surrounding them, dozens upon dozens of ninjas appearing like shadows personified-_

_-words of anger, of hate-_

_-his brothers, suddenly falling silently to the rooftop, so still, not moving-_

_-himself falling, unable to move, unable to fight back as Karai came closer and closer-_

Then the dream sped up, just like the first time, the images coming so fast that his head ached as he struggled to process it all.

_-Alone, all alone-_

_-fighting Karai, his brothers lost-_

_-swords flashing in the moonlight-_

_-blood on the rooftops-_

_-on his hands-_

_-on his swords-_

_-on himself-_

_-alone-_

_-more fighting-_

_-more anger-_

_-more fear-_

_-Karai-_

_-the Shredder-_

_-swords-_

_-pain-_

_-blood-_

_-DEATH-_

And just like the first time, he was awake again, thrown back into himself as the vision closed on an overwhelming, inescapable knowledge of death; one that drove a deep, aching sense of desperate loss deep into his heart.

Leo swore shakily, his hands trembling as he fought to shove the memories back again. It had all felt so real; the entire dream was permeated with a dark sense of warning, but part of him still fought against the truth.

_It can't be real…it HAS to be just a nightmare_, he thought desperately. _After what happened with Master Splinter's dream…we can't go through something like that again. I can't_—

"Leo?"

The blue-banded turtle looked up quickly to see his youngest brother peering around the door. He smiled slightly. "Hey. What's up?"

"Nothin' much, just thought I'd see how you're doing."

Leo sighed quietly. "You can come in. I'm not going to attack you, Mikey," he said softly, trying to tamp down the guilt swirling in his stomach. _If you could control yourself, your brother wouldn't be scared of you,_ his mind scolded.

Mikey grinned and walked into the room, plopping down in Leo's chair. "I know that, bro; you're a lot speedier when you're in 'attack mode'," he joked.

The leader smiled, glad for the lightening of the mood. "So, what did you need, Mike?"

The youngest turtle shook his head. "It's not what I need, bro; it's what _you_ need. It's almost one o'clock; you missed breakfast, and lunch is quickly passing you by." Pulling his hands from behind his back, he lobbed something at Leo's face. "Think fast!"

Leo threw a hand up instantly to catch the apple. However, as soon as his fingers closed around it, he hissed and dropped the fruit on his bed.

Mikey's expression grew concerned. "Hey, Leo, are you okay?" he asked, standing and walking over to sit beside his brother.

The blue-banded turtle didn't reply, but slowly opened his fisted hands. Leo's palms were torn and red, blood welling up from where his nails had broken the skin.

"Oooo," Mikey winced, hissing in sympathy. Carefully taking hold of one of Leo's hands, he inspected the wounds. "Dang, bro, how'd ya pull this off?"

Leo tugged his hand back. "It's nothing, Mikey."

"Really? You bleed from 'nothing' too?" Mikey asked. He wiped his forehead in fake relief. "Awesome! I thought I was the only one that happened to!" He leveled a knowing grin at his oldest brother.

"Very funny, Michelangelo."

The younger turtle sighed. "C'mon, Leo, what's wrong? Ya can't say nothing's bothering you, not with your hands looking like that." He looked down, staring at his own hands. "Is it that hard to just talk to us, bro?" he asked softly. "To talk to me?"

"Mikey, no." Leo tried to put a hand on Mikey's shoulder, but remembered in the nick of time and pulled back. He sighed as well. "It's not you guys, it's just…it's complicated."

"Then just give me the uncomplicated version," the orange-banded turtle suggested. "We'll start with the basics; something _did_ happen, right?"

Leo sighed. "Yes."

"Nightmare?"

"…No."

"Suddenly-developed fear of the dark?"

One eye ridge went up. "Um, no."

"Monster under your bed?"

Leo suppressed a grin, amused despite himself. "No."

"Indigestion?"

"No," Leo replied, biting back a chuckle.

"That makes one of us. Burritos for a late-night snack are _murder_…" Mikey grumbled, rubbing his stomach with a disgruntled expression.

"Mikey…"

"Right, back on topic! Um, covert excuse to attack Raph without getting yelled at or punished?"

Leo couldn't hold back a laugh this time. "Tempting, and a good idea for future use, but no."

"Dang." Mikey shook his head. "I'm out of ideas. You _sure_ it wasn't a nightmare? Or whatever you big, bad, older brother turtles call it?"

The words were out of Leo's mouth before he could stop them. "It wasn't a nightmare, Mikey; it was a premonition."

"What? A premon—oh," Mikey said softly. "You mean…like Sensei had? When we…when we went after the Shredder?"

Leo nodded, staring at his feet. "Yes…" he whispered.

Mikey took another look at his brother's hands. "Was it really that bad?" he asked, gesturing at Leo's bloody palms.

He looked at his hands as well, easily recalling the dream, before he nodded a second time. "Yeah. It was really that bad."

"Oh," Mikey said again. "What…happened?"

The oldest turtle shook his head. "I…I can't say." He raised a hand, stopping Mikey from interrupting. "No, Mikey, I _can't_. It's not like it was with Master Splinter. I don't trust what I saw, and I'm not willing to risk your lives because of some dream."

"Well, what if we are?" Mikey asked quietly. ""Bro, the last time we listened to a dream, we got rid of the Shredder. For good! He's out in space floating on an asteroid; he's just an out-of-commission alien Popsicle now."

"Mikey, the last time we listened to a dream, we almost didn't survive."

"That doesn't mean that's what'll happen this time," Mikey pointed out. "Look, Leo, I know how ya feel. After the fight with the Shredder…things were bad. Real bad. We all know that. We got our shells kicked, and you went all "Mr. Personality" on us, and we got kicked out of the Lair and had to find a new home." He held Leo's eyes with his own, his whole demeanor uncharacteristically serious. "_But we got rid of the Shredder_. We beat him, once and for all, and helped save the whole Utrom home world. Don't you think that was worth it?"

Leo fell very still. "Was it worth it?" he echoed softly. The oldest turtle was quiet for several minutes. "…Yes, it was worth it. I wish I could say that right away, without even thinking about it. I know I should be able to, especially considering all the lives that were saved from the Shredder, but with what that victory almost cost…I just can't."

"That's alright, bro," Mikey assured him. "It was tough, especially for you, so it makes sense for that to be a touchy topic for ya."

"For me?" Leo's brow furrowed. "It isn't for you too?"

"No, it is, it's just…" Mikey trailed off and shrugged. "Well, it's over now, isn't it? And we won. So it all came out alright in the end, didn't it? It's like with Superman; he wouldn't be able to save so many people if he didn't risk getting toasted with Kryptonite once in a while."

The blue-banded turtle stared at his youngest brother blankly. "…Right. Yeah, that, um, makes sense…" _Sort of…in a Mikey kind of way_, Leo thought. He looked at the hopeful expression on Mikey's face and sighed. "I get what you're trying to say, Mikey, but it doesn't change anything in this case."

Mikey sighed, frustrated. "Why not, bro?"

"Look, I don't even know for sure if this dream is one I can trust—"

"But you're pretty sure it's real," Mikey interrupted. "If you weren't, it wouldn't be a big deal to just tell me about it, now would it?"

Leo palmed his face in exasperation. _Shell, someone save me from little brothers and their annoyingly accurate logic_, he groaned to himself. "Alright, let's suspend reality for a minute here and pretend that this _dream_," he glared at Mikey as he emphasized the word, "_was_ actually real."

"Hypothetically, of course," Mikey said. His voice was serious, but his eyes twinkled mischievously, and he worked hard to suppress a victorious grin.

"Of course," Leo gritted out. His anger began sparking, his normal control frayed by the strain of his strange dream and his lack of sleep. "Look, even if it was real, there isn't even anything in it about us beating the Foot, alright, Michelangelo? Which means that there's nothing to make it worth—" Leo stopped abruptly, his eyes wide as he realized what he'd just revealed.

Shock replaced the mischief in Mikey's expression. "Your dream was…about the Foot?"

Leo swallowed hard and stared at the floor, his mouth clamed shut. He berated himself silently. _How the shell could I do that? I can't believe I just **said** that! I can't keep them all safe if they know about this…they'll ask too many questions… and what if they try something?_

Mikey tried to recapture his brother's focus. "Leo, are you—"

"Thanks for the apple, Mikey," Leo interrupted, cutting his brother off. "I really appreciate it."

The youngest turtle looked at his brother, noting the tension in Leo's body, and sighed internally. _Great, now he's totally shutting me out…how the shell does Donnie do this all the time and stay sane?_ he wondered, grumbling to himself. Realizing that he wasn't going to get anything more out of his older brother, he shook his head and stood. "Look, Leo, this is what I figure: you had the dream, so it's up to you if you tell us or not. But we're a _family_. What we do concerns all of us. So if you're not telling us because you're scared that we might decide to do the same thing that we did last time…well, not to sound harsh or anything, bro, but that's not really up to you. If it's about the Foot, and us, we deserve to know; and if there's something we can do about them, all five of us have to decide whether we think it's worth it. That's a decision we _all_ have to make." He gently punched Leo's shoulder. "You know where to find me, bro, or any of us. We'll be here if ya need us," he said, walking towards the door. "In the meantime, I'll send Donnie-boy up here to look at your hands."

Leo stared at the floor, thinking over what his brother had said. "Not up to me…" he murmured quietly, sighing. "Maybe not, Mikey…but it is still my concern. I still have to try and prevent this from happening. You're all still my responsibility." He shook his head. "I _know_ it wasn't my fault; I _know_ I did all that I could, but…"

A long, shuddering breath filled the silence of Leo's room.

"I can't let this dream happen. I can't go through that; I can't let _you_ guys go through that."

"I…I can't fail you again."

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Raph grumbled and flipped another page of the newspaper he was reading. _Three break-ins, a muggin', an' a warehouse set on fire; ain't Manhattan a charmin' place?_ A few more pages flitted by before he gave up and tossed the paper on the table. After he had been taking his frustrations out of the punching bag for nearly an hour, Don had finally convinced him to come out for lunch. He, Don and Mikey had spent the meal nearly in silence. After a while, Mikey had stood and rummaged through the fridge, coming out with an apple. He'd announced that he was going to see if Leo was hungry, and disappeared into their oldest brother's room.

The hotheaded turtle sighed, fidgeting. _Mikey's been in there fer a while…dammit, I wanna know what the shell is up with Leo._

Another sigh echoed his own, emerging from behind the sheaf of papers across the table. Don lowered the science section that he was reading and eyed his brother, a well-used look of exasperated patience on his face. "Alright, Raph, what is it?"

Raph scowled and crossed his arms. "What's what?" he retorted.

Don rolled his eyes. "Raph, you've been over there twitching like a seizure. Ever since what happened with Leo, you've been doing a good impression of Mikey on caffeine."

The hothead snorted and stared at the floor. "I'm actin' like Mikey? Great, thanks Don, that makes me feel so much better."

"Raph…"

"Alright, alright, fine. It's Leo, he's—"

"'Pissing you off'?" Don offered. At Raph's surprised look, the brainy turtle rolled his eyes. "Don't look so shocked, Raphael. I've lived with you for 18 years. You're always pissed off because of Leo. So what is it about him _specifically_ that's pissing you off this time?" he asked, his tone that of talking to a five-year-old.

Raph was slightly bewildered by his brother's words. _He ain't normally so…blunt. An' I can count on one hand the number of times that **Don** has said "pissed off"._ He set the thought aside and snorted, staring over Don's shoulder as he grumbled. "Like ya need ta ask…"

"Well, obviously I do, since like always, you seem to be too stubborn and immature to just talk about it by yourself without someone holding your hand!" Don snapped.

The red-banded turtle sat back, shock clearly written on his face. "Damn, Don," he finally managed to say, his voice full of bemusement, "if I had a nose, you woulda just bit the frickin' thing off!"

"Finally on the receiving end of a bad attitude, hm?" Don's voice was scornful. "Don't worry, it's good for you; it builds character." With that, he threw the paper down on the table and stormed out of the kitchen. Seconds later, the door to Don's lab slammed shut, the resulting noise echoing through the silent Lair.

_What…the shell…what **that** all about?_ Raph's mind was too shocked by his brother's actions to think of any other question. Footsteps from the stairs interrupted his daze, pulling him back to himself.

"Don, what's rubbing Raph's shell _this_ time?" Mikey's voice floated into the kitchen ahead of him. "We really don't need the whole door-slamming thing right now, bro. Leo's chilled a bit, but his hands are kind of trashed. I told him I'd send you up to…" Mikey stepped into the kitchen and halted, surprised at not seeing the brother he expected, "…bandage them," he finished slowly. He stared at Raph for several moments, clearly puzzled. "You're not Don," he said.

Raph shook his head. "Nope, definitely not. An' right now, neither is he."

"Huh? Don's not Don?" Mikey's face wrinkled in thought as he tried to process the statement. "Okay, not making sense. How is he not Don, and how are you here after slamming your door?"

"'Cause he ain't right now, and I didn't."

Mikey's expression was still blank. "Alright, can I have that one more time? Except this time, slower and, you know, _understandable_."

The red-banded turtle quickly explained what had happened while Mikey was gone, from Don's comments to his angry exit.

"Dude, I think our brains got scrambled with each other's while we were sleeping," Mikey complained. "Don's acting like you, you're acting like me, I'm acting like Don, and Leo's acting like you."

Raph looked skeptical. "How do ya figure that one?"

"Figure which one?"

"The 'you actin' like Don' one."

"Oh. Well, I was talking to Leo, and he'd messed up his hands and still wasn't feeling like talking, so I told him we'd be around when he did." He placed a hand over his heart. "I like to stay in touch with my sensitive side."

Raph's eye ridges lowered. "Wait a minute…why were Leo's hands messed up?" he asked.

Mikey shifted uncomfortably. "Umm…'cause of earlier."

"His nightmare?" Raph asked.

The orange-banded turtle nodded uneasily.

Raph stared hard at his brother for several moments. "You know somethin', don't'cha?" Despite its phrasing, the question was more of a statement.

"What?" Mikey looked slightly panicked. "Me? Uh, no, I—"

"Mikey…" Raph growled warningly.

The younger turtle held his brother's gaze for a while, then sighed and looked down. "I…I don't think…I don't think I should tell you," he whispered.

"Ex-_cuse_ me? An' why the shell not?" Raph demanded.

"Well, Leo said—and he was, you see..." Mikey sighed. "I just can't tell ya, bro."

"Great," the hothead snarled. "That's just great. Thanks fer yer help, _bro_." Raph snorted and jerked to his feet.

"Where are you going, Raph?" Mikey asked, concerned.

"I'm gonna go fix Leo's hands," Raph snapped, stalking out of the kitchen and heading for the medical supply cabinet. "Yer bein' just this side of useless, so I'll find out what's goin' on fer myself."

"But Raph, he really doesn't feel like talking—"

"An' I don't feel like bein' short an' green. We don't always get what we want. He's pissin' everyone off, an' I wanna know what's so frickin' important that he thinks he's got the right ta be crabby."

"As opposed to you, who's always crabby, and don't care whether you've got a reason or not," Mikey muttered under his breath.

Raph turned around, raising an eye ridge at his younger brother. "What was that?"

Mikey waved his hands in front of himself quickly. "Oh, nothing, nothing at all."

The hotheaded turtle snorted. "That's what I thought." He grabbed a roll of bandages and some antiseptic, and then he was gone.

As soon as he left, Mikey sighed heavily and sat down. He rubbed his eyes with his hands before face-planting on the table, then muttered into the wood.

"First Leo's cranky, then Don's cranky, and now Raph's _still_ cranky. What the shell did I do to deserve three Raphs?"

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Splinter walked down the tunnel towards the water plant serenely. His time spent at April's had greatly refreshed him, both because of the more pleasant climate and the quiet time away from his four rowdy sons. He shook his head, thinking about the fight they'd had the day before he'd left; Michelangelo had hidden the television remote and refused to reveal its location, thus allowing him to keep the channel on his station of choice. His three older brothers had quickly grown tired of the shows played on there, and Splinter had had to rescue his youngest from being beaten up by his three other children. When he'd asked why they hadn't just walked over to the TV and changed the channel by hand, he'd only received blank stares. The only explanation they could come up with was provided by Raphael: "it's tha principle of tha matter, Sensei".

The old rat sighed. _My sons are my life; they always have been, and they will always continue to be. However, there are times when their actions threaten to reduce that life by many, **many** years._

Splinter stopped suddenly, realizing that he was heading down the wrong tunnel. While he was lost in thought, his feet had automatically begun taking him back to the old Lair. He sighed, but allowed himself to continue down the familiar path to their last home. Upon entering the tunnel just before the entrance, Splinter sniffed the air thoroughly. Detecting no danger, he proceeded to navigate the rocky ruins carefully. Once inside what used to be the entrance, the old master looked around in sadness.

The entire Y'Lyntian lair was still in a shambles. Debris lay everywhere, parts of the walls and ceiling forming large piles that were scattered about on the floor. However, a small, narrow path of clear footing space wove its way through the Lair, skirting the larger obstacles neatly. The turtles had come by several times after moving to their new home, in order to try and tidy things up a bit. They all knew that they couldn't live there anymore; not only did Karai know of its location, but the Y'Lyntian chamber was also far from structurally sound. But they all had wanted to try and clean up the old Lair nonetheless. Splinter had at first denied his sons' requests, cautioning them that there was still a chance of danger lingering about their old home. However, his sons had pressed the matter. Donatello had performed something he called a "sweep scan", searching for any electronic items that could have been left by the Foot, such as bugs, trackers, or video cameras, but reported the whole area as "clean". Though this helped greatly to alleviate Splinter's fears, he was still reluctant to allow the undertaking. But Leonardo had finally convinced him when he'd pointed out that it was still usable as a temporary shelter, and it was a good place to store extra food, supplies, and weapons, in case they would ever find themselves ejected from their home again.

So the ninja master had finally consented, much to his sons' pleasure. They had set to work immediately, and Splinter soon found that he was glad he had acquiesced. Through their work, they had discovered that they hadn't lost as much as they'd originally thought; many supplies and cherished items were found, even weeks after they'd started. Another benefit, one that made Donatello very pleased, was the scavenged Foot technology. Much of the robots that had attacked them had been left behind, and the brainy turtle was able to do wonders with it. Splinter didn't understand everything his son had gushed about, but apparently Donatello was able to use the parts to craft some defensive machines of his own, as well as identify their "power signature". The old rat wasn't sure why that was pertinent, but his son had assured him it was.

"_This way, Sensei, I can set up one of my security programs to perform regular sweeps of the area, with the frequency tuned to that of these robots. That way, if they come again, we'll be able to have some warning."_

Even beyond those successes, the restoration had helped all of them emotionally. Splinter knew very well that all of his sons had many emotions to deal with in regards to the destruction of their home. However, Leonardo and Raphael had the most to struggle with; Raphael had to come to terms with his anger for being unable to prevent the loss of their home or protect his family better, and Leonardo had to deal with the horror of coming home to find his home destroyed and his family gone. Several times Splinter had seen them together, sitting side by side in one of the less cluttered areas; they would either talk softly for long periods of time, or merely sit together silently. The time alone seemed to help them to heal, and to repair the bond between them, which had been so strained because of Leonardo's angry behavior and long absence.

Splinter walked further through the Lair, memories of their time spent there flowing through his mind. He sighed, pain throbbing at his heart. Twice. _Twice_ he and his sons had been forced out of their home; twice they had had to deal with the pain of losing a place of their own, one place where they, different as they were, could still feel safe. Even though they had lived in their first Lair longest, there were still precious memories here; however, they, like those of their first home, would now also be tainted with sadness and loss.

The old rat shook his head, firmly chastising himself to dispel his melancholy. He recited to himself an old adage that his Master Yoshi had once told to a young man when the lad returned from seeing his house after it had burned down: _'Old memories are like the graves of loved ones; it is fine to visit them, but not to dwell on the shadows that they cast.'_ Splinter tamped the sadness down firmly, repeating the saying again. He slowly began to find some comfort, both from the helpful words and the memory of his beloved sensei. _My sons and I are fine; we…**I**…should not allow one bad day to ruin years of pleasant ones. _Feeling better, he continued his tour, carefully making his way to the top level of the Lair. He walked past his sons' rooms, glancing inside each doorway.

The rooms looked just as bad as the rest of the Lair. Rockets from Karai's robots had also damaged the roof, seriously wrecking the upper level living quarters. His sons had extended their care even to their old rooms, despite the fact that the chambers were essentially lost causes.

Here was Michelangelo's room, badly damaged. _And yet, it looks messy enough to be remarkably like its normal state_, Splinter chuckled to himself. Half of the room was totally blocked, and broken furniture had been pulled from the wreckage and stacked neatly in two of the corners. Everything else had been cleared out, and several of Splinter's smaller counterparts seemed to have taken up residence in his youngest son's absence. He shook his head. _I dare not mention this to his brothers; I know that he would never be able to outlive it._

The next room over was Raphael's, and it had suffered slightly less damage to its structure and contents than Michelangelo's. One wall seemed to have taken the brunt of the attack, dozens of bricks torn away to give a partial view into Don's room next door. Raphael's hammock hadn't survived, but his punching bag had. Splinter smiled ruefully. _And it got an excess of use after the attack on our home._ Fortunately, the majority of the rest of his things escaped serious damage.

Donatello's room was the same, minimally damaged but for the large hole in the wall. He'd suffered more possession loss than all of his brothers because of the inventions and experiments he had stored in there. A small chuckle escaped the old ninja as he pictured his son's reactions, both to the site of his room and the discovery of the left-over robot parts; Donatello had been considerably upset at his losses, but much of that depression was banished by the wealth of technology he had gotten his hands on as a result of scavenging the Foot robots.

And the last room on his journey was Leonardo's. Oddly enough, the door had been pulled shut, and it caused Splinter considerable trouble to get it open. Due to the location of the chamber, Leonardo's room had been the most damaged of all his sons'. However, of all of his brothers, he had lost the least, mainly because of how little he had. His room was always neat and tidy, the few possessions he did have carefully stowed away. Part of Splinter was still glad that Leonardo had not been there when Karai attacked their home; given the history and emotional ties his eldest son had with the _kunoichi_, the rat didn't want to think about how badly it would affect the young turtle had he been there for that betrayal and defeat.

Splinter prepared to leave the room, his gut telling him the afternoon was waning and that he would do well to be getting home before dinner. _Otherwise, my sons' dietary habits will most likely continue to deteriorate._ Just as he neared the door, though, a small flash of color and a twitch of fabric caught his eye, and he turned quickly. The only thing there, however, was one of Leonardo's bandanas, lying on the floor in the corner. It was partly buried under some rubble, and Splinter surmised that his movement had created a slight breeze that must have ruffled the cloth. Padding softly over to the bandana, he carefully extracted it from the collapsed stone. It was still in decent shape, so Splinter tucked the item into his robe and once again made to leave. However, he was stopped a second time. Right on the threshold of Leonardo's room, he felt a violent surge of emotions come over him; anger, despair, helplessness, fear, hatred, denial, and then finally, a strange peace.

The wave of feelings shocked Splinter into immobility. Even stranger, as soon as he had processed all the different sensations, they were gone as quickly as they came. Splinter stood very still, trying to figure out what had just happened, but he came up with nothing. _It was as though I had stepped inside the heart of another…but whom?_ The ninja master sniffed the air again, searching carefully for even the slightest hint of another person, but he came up with only lingering hints of Leonardo's scent and the awareness of his own. He shook his head and sighed; what had happened? No one outside of his family had been in the Lair since the attack, so who could the emotions belong to? Splinter made another round of the room, and approached the door the same way he did the first time, but whatever had occurred was over now. Another sigh escaped him and he left the room, making his way back down to the first floor and carefully out of the damaged Lair.

Splinter's trip home passed quickly, as his mind was occupied with what had happened in Leonardo's room. He was still puzzling over it when he opened the door to the Lair. _The emotions were not mine_, he thought, still distracted, _but they still felt familiar somehow. Especially the anger, it felt like_…

That thought was quickly cut off as soon as he stepped into the Lair. Anger and annoyance crowded into his senses, effectively erasing his past train of thought. Splinter grasped after the lingering notion, but it slipped from his grasp. He made a mental note to think more about it later, and prepared himself to deal with the newest problem at hand.

The newest set of emotions was easy to identify; it came from all four of his sons, in varying degrees of intensity. Oddly enough, he couldn't see any of his sons anywhere. This was especially strange when considering his sons' usual habits. Normally when there was a fight, Michelangelo at least would be seen right away, either to deny being at fault for the problem at hand and beg for protection from his sensei, or to sit on the couch and stay out of the fight completely. But he was nowhere to be seen. And no swearing came from the dojo, either, which was the normal place for Raphael to retire after a fight, if he didn't go topside. Splinter sniffed the air and detected at least one of his sons in the kitchen, and decided to start there. Because of the riotous, conflicting emotions flying around the Lair he couldn't tell which son it was, but knew he would at least get some answers, regardless.

"My son…?" he asked carefully as he stepped into the kitchen.

A green head popped up off of the table at his voice. "Oh, hey, Sensei," Michelangelo said cheerily, lines of exasperation falling from his face. "How ya doing? How was your stay at April's? Are you feeling better?"

Splinter chuckled. _Michelangelo's curiosity at least remains intact_, he mused to himself. _It is good to know some things never change._ He walked over and took a seat at the table beside his youngest son, groaning slightly; the long walk and climb through the sewers was making itself known in his joints. Rubbing his knees to relieve some of the discomfort, he smiled at the young turtle. "I was never feeling ill in the first place," he replied, "but yes, I do feel refreshed for the small…vacation I spent at Ms. O'Neil's. As for your other questions, my stay was most pleasant; Ms. O'Neil is always a wonderful companion. And I feel fine, though I would like to know what exactly has thrown our home into such an uproar."

Michelangelo winced slightly, recognizing the subtly-phrased request for information. Splinter could tell that his youngest didn't want to be the one to explain, but could also tell that the turtle knew better than to try and get out of it.

"Um, uproar? Whadda ya mean, Sensei? It seems pretty…uh…down-roary in here to me," Michelangelo said, grinning weakly.

Splinter didn't say a word, only stared at his son. When a few more seconds passed with no response, the ninja master's eyes narrowed just the slightest fraction.

And suddenly, his son was a bit more responsive.

"Okay, fine, maybe something _is_ uproar-ing in here," the rambunctious turtle sighed. He scowled, muttering under his breath. "More like it's _Leo_ who's up and roaring…"

"What was that, Michelangelo?"

"Nothing, Sensei!"

The old rat sighed. "Tell me what has happened, and who is mad at whom."

"Well, something kinda messed with Leo's head, that's the "what happened" part…" Michelangelo sagged, looking tired at the mere thought of explaining. "Do I have to go any further into it than that?"

One raised eyebrow answered his question.

"I mean, I'd love to go into that!" He coughed slightly, and took a deep breath. "Alright, so here's how it goes: Leo's kind of in a funky mood, and Raph wanted to know why, but Leo wouldn't say, so I dragged Raph out of Leo's room, but Leo _still_ wouldn't say, and then Don left, and then we talked, and then Raph came back, and then I left to go talk to Leo, and then we kinda talked, and then I came back—" the young turtle stopped for another deep breath and kept going, "and by then _Don_ had left, and then Raph and I talked, and he got mad, so then _he_ left to go talk to Leo, who probably still doesn't want to talk, and then I stayed here, and I think I kinda might have talked to the table…and then you got back."

Splinter stared at his son. _I do believe he was speaking English, but I don't think I understood more than half of anything he said_, he thought to himself in disbelief. _I also don't think I have ever heard a longer sentence spoken._ "…Thank you, my son, for…explaining," Splinter managed to say when he found his voice. "So then, Leonardo is…upset at…" He broke off, his lips moving slightly as he tried again to process the story. "No, you said it was Donatello who…"

Michelangelo took pity on his mentor. "Raph's mad at Leo and me, Don's mad at Raph and possibly Leo, and Leo's…well, I don't think he's mad at anyone other than himself, though he might be a little peeved with Raph."

The rat master's face was a study in relief. "Thank you, Michelangelo. That makes it much easier to understand. But you did not mention yourself, I noticed; are you angry with any of your brothers?"

The question seemed to take the youngest turtle by surprise. "Me? Am I mad?" He tilted his head to the side, seeming to think hard about it. "Huh. Well, let's see…Leo? Nuh-uh. Don? No, he's hard to be mad at. Raph? Hmm…nah, he's just being Raph. Nope, I'm cool, Sensei," the orange-banded turtle replied.

"I am glad to hear it, my son."

"Alrighty. If that's it, I'm headin' upstairs, Sensei."

Splinter pulled back slightly, confused. "What? Why, my son?"

Michelangelo seemed surprised by the question. "Um, 'cause everyone 'cept you and me is ticked off, and I don't want my shell handed to me," he said slowly, as though explaining the situation to someone either very young or very slow.

"But this situation is not of your making, Michelangelo."

The orange-banded turtle grinned. "Bingo, Sensei. For once, it's not my fault, so if I stay totally out of it for the rest of it, I'll get zero blame and beatings. 'Sides, Raph's the only one mad at me right now, and it'd be stupid to tick anyone else off. And I figured it'd be better if you handled this one from now on, since, you know, you're good with this kind of thing and no one's likely to smack you." He sketched a quick bow before jumping up the stairs. "Glad you're back, Master Splinter!"

Michelangelo was up the stairs and safely behind his door before his sensei could get another word out. Splinter groaned quietly. _I have just returned home, and already there is a new fight to deal with._

_I need a vacation._

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**A/N: Two down—and…a…few more to go. XD Yeah, I've got no idea how long this story's gonna be page-number wise. It's gonna be weird, at least to me, because it's only one incident/event that's happening, like with every story, but there's so much going on; so part of me is like "wow, this'll be over soon", but the other part laughs and goes "riiiight…". Anyways, I hope this chapter was enjoyable. And hey, you got to find out what Leo's dream was, and it's only 2 chapters into the story! How's that for quick delivery:D And to any of you who thought it was a little short to cover something that's bothering Leo so much, fear not! For there will be more dreamage to come! XD I love making up my own words…Besides, it's an ANGST fic…one little part of a chapter is way too little trauma. XD**

**Oh, and a note to Pi90katana (if you read this): I know the whole premonition sequence thing looks a lot like what you did in "Dead of Night", but no plagiarism was intended! It was after I wrote it that I realized I used the same technique, but it was the only way I could think of to do that part of the story. So if you are offended in any way, I apologize! . (And to any people, you can't get angry at me, because this isn't a review response! This is merely preventative apologetic action:D lol)**

**As for the characters…whatchoo think? I know I took a pretty different approach on Mikey in this chapter; he's got a lot more serious scenes, and even a trace of maturity peeking through now and then. :D But I personally think it's alright; Mikey does have his serious moments, they're just few and far between sometimes. But if you'll recall the episode "Samurai Tourist", Mikey was really compassionate and understanding of Leo, telling Raph to "lay off the poor guy…it can't be fun always being the responsible one". I was kind of pulling that in here. Mikey's got a lot of empathy, especially for his brothers, so I don't think this was that far-stretched. And yes, we all know that Don was OOC…but you'll see why in the next chapter. :3**

**And for the style…yeah, it's still pretty much my same style, but I'm doing something a little different. I don't know if you guys noticed, but I'm doing a little bit of overlapping on the event timeline thing. Like, how I started off with the whole Leo/Mikey conversation, and then explained how he got up there later? Remember…? XD Anyways, please let me know what you guys think of that, like if you could follow it easily, because it will probably show up more later on in this story; it's going to be very separated viewpoints at times, but I will do my absolute best to keep the timeline easy to understand. :)**

**Anyways, I think that's it. A little bit more happened, but I know it wasn't a lot. I'm pretty sure you'll forgive me, though, 'cause this _is_ just the beginning of the story; I need to set the scene first. I can't really just start the story off like "OMG, fight sequence, die!" Lol. Well, I _could_…but it would totally kill the story. No angst story is complete without lots of morose dialogue, right:D I apologize for the weird author notes, but I've been crazy tired all day. So I'll go now so I can actually get some sleep. Yay sleep! And hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner than 2 weeks…but I can't make any promises. I'll do my best, though. Thanks to everyone who read this, and who reviewed the first chapter, and I'd loved it if you repeated those actions:D Same stuff as always; thanks for reading, please point out any mistakes, etc. Take care everyone, and R&R, please!**


	3. Escaping Fate

_**Disclaimer**: I still don't own the TMNT. I never have. I've never claimed to, even. Fantasized, yes. Claimed, no. I just write stories about them because it's fun and it gives me something to do. :D Now that that's over…_

_I'm so sorry! I can't believe it's been four weeks since I last updated! It's just seemed like one thing after another with this chapter, though. First I got a bad case of writer's block, and then when that left, I couldn't figure out what to do with this chapter; I think I've seriously changed what's going to happen in it at LEAST four times. And then when I FINALLY figured it out, my computer decided to be stupid and refuse to load any web pages, so I couldn't get on So I then had to stalk the library computers for a few days, trying to get enough time to get this chapter written. Then there was MORE story writing trouble because this chapter just didn't want to work for me. Hopefully, though, it has turned out to your liking, dear readers. :I_

_And a truckload of thanks to my awesome reviewers: **Aurora Musis Amica, Swallowraven, Pi90katana, WarrinPeace, BubblyShell22, **and **Sewer Slider**. You guys are amazing, and thank you for the great reviews!_

_Now, to the story! Through many trials and tribulations, I bring you: Chapter 3! Please love it. :D_

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Raph stomped up the stairs to Leo's room, muttering to himself. "Frickin' stupid…can't get an answer outta anyone in this place…" He was deeply annoyed by the time he reached Leo's door, and only knocked once sharply before pushing the door open.

The first thing he saw was Leo sitting on his bed, supporting his head with his fists. He spoke before Raph could.

"I appreciate you coming up here, Don, but you don't have to stay. I can fix my hands by myself."

Raph narrowed his eyes slightly, concerned about his brother despite himself; the red-banded turtle had rarely heard his brother sound that troubled. But he tried to set that aside and gather his attitude again; though he would never admit it, Raph knew he was a lot like his brother, and he knew Leo wouldn't want any pity or coddling in a situation like this. "Damn, people thinkin' I'm Don twice in one day," Raph drawled. "I must be losin' my touch."

Leo's head shot up, and Raph was taken aback by the turmoil on his brother's face. The emotions were only visible for a second, though, because Leo's expression quickly slid back into its normal, controlled state. "What do you want, Raph?" Leo asked.

The hothead scowled at the tone in his brother's voice. "Geez, don't sound so happy ta see me, bro, ya might sprain somethin'." He hefted the supplies he was carrying, raising them enough for Leo to see them. "Our resident genius is gettin' in touch with his angry side, so I'm here ta fix yer stupid hands."

"That's not necessary," Leo objected. "I can take care of it by myself."

"Yeah?" Raph stalked over to his brother and threw the medical supplies on his bed, then grabbed one of Leo's wrists and forced the hand open. He winced at the sight of the torn palms, but covered it up with another scowl and pointed at the bloody flesh. "'Scuse me fer sayin' it, Fearless, but this don't look like anythin' ya can take care of on yer own. An' since Don's pissed an' ya kicked Mikey out, I'm the only one here ta clean ya up, so shut up an' get yer butt over to tha bathroom."

Leo hissed at Raph's rough grip and jerked his hand back. "Raph, I said I can—"

"Stuff it, Leo. I got no problem smackin' ya around to get ya to listen, screwed up hands or not."

The blue-banded turtle sighed, sick of all the fuss everyone was making, but he recognized the look in Raph's eyes: the one that said the hothead was determined to get his way. Leo didn't feel like dragging this out any longer. _Besides,_ he thought to himself, _the sooner I say yes, the sooner this is over with and he'll back off_. A tired smile tugged at his mouth. _Hopefully._

"What're you grinnin' at?" Raph asked.

"Nothing. Let's just get this taken care of." He stood and walked resignedly into the bathroom.

Raph came after him, once again carrying the medical supplies, and now bearing a smug, satisfied smirk as well. "Good, yer finally showin' some sense. Here." He fumbled through his armload, then offered Leo a bar of soap. "This is summa that disinfectant crap Don likes; don't worry, it don't sting as bad as the regular stuff," he added.

Leo winced at the thought of getting soap of _any_ kind in the cuts on his hands, but accepted the soap anyway. "Thanks." It took several washings and more than a few swear words before he was finished. He then dried his hands carefully and waved them back and forth, trying to ease the stinging in the cuts. "Now what?"

"Now ya keep yer pants on while I get these bandages ready," Raph replied, his tone occupied as he concentrated on juggling everything he was still holding. He gave up on keeping everything and hanged Leo a small tube. "In the meantime, try an' get some of this stuff on; it's kinda like a pain reliever, numbs the cuts a bit."

"How do you know so much about this?" Leo asked curiously as he took the proffered tube. Raph had been unusually comfortable and knowledgeable throughout this whole process.

Raph snorted, shooting a grin at his older brother. "If I got experience in anythin', it's fights. So Don decided one day that if I was gonna keep gettin' into 'em, I was gonna clean myself up after 'em, too; at least the small ones. So he showed me how ta use most of this stuff."

Leo raised an eye ridge. "He just "decided one day"?" he asked, his tone skeptical.

The red-banded turtle tried to suppress a grin. "Yep."

"And you, of course, being the willing, avid learner that you are, immediately agreed." The disbelief was all but dripping off of Leo's words.

Raph couldn't help himself any longer and burst out laughing. "Alright, alright, ya got me there. It wasn't really like he gave me any choice in the matter. I'd ended up comin' back from a fight one night, an' I'd gotten caught by surprise when I was doin' my good deed fer the day." He saw the reproving glare his brother shot at him, but ignored it. "Anyways, I'd gotten kinda banged up, an' jus' walked right inta Don's lab, without knockin', ta see if he could fix me up."

"You did _what_?" Leo shook his head in disbelief. "Bad choice, Raph."

"Yer tellin' me. I ended up comin' about this close—" Raph held his fingers about an inch apart, "—ta gettin' one of Don's new shuriken in the middle of my face."

Leo looked pale. "The new ones? You mean the ones he came up with last month, the poisoned ones?"

"Yep," Raph nodded. "I'd caught 'im right in the middle of practicin' his aim." He shook his head and laughed. "Damn, I got a nice breeze from that sucker."

"What happened?"

The red-banded turtle smirked. "Well, I'd scared the crap outta him by doin' that, and seriously pissed him off when I told him why I'd come in."

Leo winced. "Never a good idea."

"You better believe it ain't. He lectured me about that for a solid ten minutes, and then gave me an intro to first aid. Told me that the next time I interrupted 'im like that, I better be missin' a limb."

Raph and Leo both laughed, enjoying the rare moment of closeness. It was unusual for them to be in the same room for long periods of time without fighting, so when they actually managed it, it was worth appreciating.

Leo's laughter died first, leaving an odd, quiet look on his face. He glanced at Raph, and a sad smile tugged at his mouth. "Hey, Raph?"

Raph's chuckling had trailed off by now as well, his attention focused as he finished wrapping Leo's hands. "Yeah?" He put the supplies away and turned, his brow furrowing slightly at the look on Leo's face. "What's up, bro?"

"…We don't do this much, do we?"

"Do what?"

"This." Leo gestured at the two of them. "Talk, laugh together…just be brothers without fighting or competing or trying to rip each other's heads off." The smile slowly fell off his face. "We really ought to do this more often…we don't know when we won't have to chance to anymore."

Raph frowned, sitting down beside his brother. "Leo, yer kinda freakin' me out here. What's wrong?"

"What's _right_?" Leo responded, staring at his hands. "We got out and save people, risk our lives, fight against the Foot, save entire _planets_ from annihilation…and in return, what do we get? We face losing each other every single day. What's right about that?"

"Leo, we ain't facin' losin' anyone," Raph protested, worried about his brother's attitude. His frown deepened as he stared at Leo. _He's actin' way too weird…_

"Not right now," Leo murmured. "Not yet, at least…"

Raph sat up straighter and gripped his brother's shoulders tightly. "Leo, what's goin' on? This is about yer dream, innit?"

Leo averted his gaze and carefully shoved Raph's hands away. "I never said that."

"Yer all but screamin' it, bro. You ain't normally like this, an' yer little "episode" is the only thing that's happened recently ta scramble yer brains." He crossed his arms and leveled a glare at his brother. "What was the dream about?"

Leo's body visibly tensed, his hands curling into fists. "Just drop it, Raph; it's not a big deal."

"Watch yer hands," Raph said mildly, a taunting smile on his face.

"Knock it off, Raphael," Leo growled, his voice low and angry.

"Knock what off?" Raph asked, trying to make his tone as innocent as he could. "Showin' some concern about one'a my bros?"

Leo laughed derisively. "You? Concerned about me?" More mocking laughter followed. "Be serious, Raph."

Now it was Raph's turn to get angry. "Don't try an' pull that shit, Leo. I may not show it a lot, but I care about ya," he said gruffly, then smirked at his brother. "Even when yer actin' mental."

"I already said to drop it. It's none of your business."

"Guess again, Leo-_nardo_," Raph drawled. "It became my business when ya woke up tryin' ta kill me."

Leo paled, his face tight with anger and guilt. "I didn't try to kill you!" he denied shakily. "I just—"

"Woke up throwin' a sword at my skull," the red-banded turtle interrupted. "An' that was when ya were wakin' up from—what was it again? Oh yeah, the dream that "doesn't matter" 'cuz "it ain't a big deal". Damn, I'd hate to see what'd happen if ya ever—"

"Shut up!" Before Raph could react, Leo struck out from the shoulder, slamming his brother to the floor.

Raph landed hard, his eyes wide as he stared at his brother.

"Just shut up!!" Leo yelled again, his voice angry and desperate. "This isn't your problem—I won't _let_ it be your problem! This dream is mine to deal with, and I'll handle it by myself. So just back off and leave me alone!" He whirled around and fired a punch at the bathroom door. "Just leave me _alone_!!"

But suddenly, the door was missing, though Leo's arm fist kept going. A calm, furry paw quickly gripped his wrist, using his momentum to pull him through the door of the bathroom. The grip then shifted slightly, swinging Leo 180 degrees before a quick tug jerked him to a stop. It took several moments for his head to stop spinning, but when Leo finally looked at who had a hold of his arm, he paled rapidly. "M-master Splinter!"

"I must confess, my son, this is not the welcome that I was expecting." Splinter's eyes held a trace of mirth, though concern shone clearly in their depths. "Is something wrong, my son?"

Raph could see Leo floundering, and suddenly jumped in to save him as he heaved himself off of the bathroom floor. "Nah, it's nothin', Master Splinter; he just didn't sleep too well. How was yer stay at Ape's?"

Splinter turned and looked surprised at Raph's save, but didn't come close to the shock on Leo's face. The older turtle's mouth continued hanging open as Splinter focused his attention on Raph instead. "It was quite enjoyable, Raphael; I must admit, the…break was greatly appreciated. And before you ask, yes, the warmer climate _was_ a welcome change."

"Glad ta hear it," Raph said easily. He stood, storing the remaining supplies and headed out of the bathroom, grabbing his brother's arm as he left. "Leo an' I are just gonna get some stuff taken care of before dinner. 's good ta see ya back, Sensei."

Raph quickly dragged Leo out of the bathroom and a safe distance down the hall before releasing him. He scowled at his older brother, crossing his arms firmly over his plastron. "Yer welcome."

Leo frowned at his brother, still slightly shaken with his sensei's sudden return. "For what?"

"Whadda ya mean, for what? For savin' you from embarassin' yerself in front'a Master Splinter, that's what!" Raph threw up his hands and paced away before coming back. His hands fisted tightly, but suddenly relaxed as he sighed. He stood in front of Leo again, but wouldn't meet his eyes. "Alright, look, ya don't have to tell me what happened if ya don't want to; shell knows we've never done th'whole "talkin' about it'll make ya feel better" thing for much'a anythin', let alone nightmares."

A protest quickly rose from Leo. "I—"

"Can it, I ain't done yet," Raph snapped, finally locking gazes with Leo. "I won't push anymore, alright? You obviously ain't in the sharin' mood, an' that's fine. But whatever this stupid thing was, get over it; I'm th'only one here who's allowed bein' an ass."

Leo grinned slightly, unable to help it. "Don't like the competition?"

Raph grinned back, allowing the tension to dissipate a bit. "Damn straight. We've already seen what it's like when _you_ try ta act like _me_; an' bro, ya don't have the charm to pull it off," he said smugly. "So whatever it was about that dream that got yer bandana in a knot, get over it; it's just a dream. An' then get yer shell downstairs an' apologize ta Don an' Mikey; they're takin' this too seriously, an' I like electricity an' runnin' water too much to want Donnie ta stay pissed."

Another laugh came from Leo before his expression sobered. "Yeah, you're right…I just…"

"Just what?" Raph's brows lowered in concern. "It _was_ just a dream, right?"

Leo hesitated, then nodded his head firmly. "Yeah. Yeah, you're probably right. I'm taking this too seriously as well; I'm probably just worrying too much about it."

"Don't'cha always?" Raph joked.

"No, I don't worry too much," Leo retorted. "You just don't worry enough."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just get over this, alright? Go…I dunno, meditate a while, if ya think it'll help."

"Nah," Leo said, shaking his head again. "I've been thinking about this too much, making it a bigger deal than it is. I think I need dinner more than I need extra thinking time."

Raph grinned, glad that things were fixed. "Good. Then let's go get Mikey to whip somethin' up. Your sulkin' has totally thrown off the eating schedule, and I'm starvin'."

Leo rolled his eyes and followed his brother down the stairs. "Oh, I'm so sorry to have disrupted your delicate routine, Raph." He shot a quick swat to the back of Raph's head and ducked a return punch, running past him down the stairs. "Last one there has dish duty!"

"Get back here, ya cheater! What the hell happened to yer morals 'bout fairness an' all that crap?!"

"As the great sage once said, 'fairness comes second to the dread of dish-pan hands'."

"Like hell! You just made that up!"

Leo shot a grin back to his brother as he flipped down to the main level of the Lair. "What's your point, prune-fingers?"

Raph smirked back at his brother. "My point is gonna be a fist in yer face!" he retorted. The red-banded turtle flipped right after his brother, landing beside him running. The brothers swiped at each other as they ran for the kitchen, and Raph felt a large weight lifted from his chest. _If Leo's actually willin' ta have some fun fer once, he musta just needed the reality check_, he reasoned to himself easily.

_I mean, if it really _was_ somethin' big, Leo definitely wouldn't've ditched it_.

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As soon as the two turtles had left the stairs, a third form stepped out of the nearby shadows. Splinter frowned after his sons, concerned with what he had heard. Part of his conscience gave a twinge for having eavesdropped on the conversation, but the turmoil he'd sensed from Leonardo had convinced him that he needed to know what was going on. The conversation hadn't been as enlightening as he'd hoped, though; all he'd managed to gather was that Leonardo had had a nightmare.

_And while that in itself is unusual, it is hardly cause for alarm_, Splinter chided himself. _Or a cause to invade their privacy_.

Another part of him, however, continued to fixate on the emotions coming off of his oldest son; next to Donatello, Leonardo was the calmest of his brothers, yet Splinter had easily sensed a great deal of confusion and fear from his eldest. But at Raphael's words, he had shoved those emotions away. And that proved to be the greatest concern for Splinter.

_Leonardo has always faced his problems head-on; so what could he have seen that was bad enough for him to want to bury it?_

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Leo sighed as he unbuckled his sword strap, setting it and his sheathes in their normal position. He rolled his shoulders to relieve some of the tension in his muscles, flopping down on his bed. Dinner had gone a lot better than he expected; Don and Mikey had been nearly as ready to let the situation go as Leo was. The only strange part was Master Splinter; several times during the meal Leo had sensed his sensei staring at him closely, though he didn't know why. Oddly enough, he'd gotten the impression that Splinter was upset with him over something, but when he'd asked, the old rat had waved his question aside.

Another sigh breezed out as Leo slowly relaxed. _Whatever it is, it'll have to wait. It's way too late to deal with this tonight…_Mikey had suggested a late-night movie, and Leo hadn't had the heart to refuse after the day's events. As a result, it was now nearly one in the morning. He closed his eyes, falling into the familiar breathing pattern that always helped him fall asleep. A small part of him was slightly nervous about going back to sleep, especially considering how it had ended last time. But once again, he thrust those thoughts aside. _It was just a dream; I've had bad nightmares like that before. I just kept thinking about it too much, made it seem like it was worse than it really was._ Leo could feel himself slipping into sleep when a sudden force seized his mind. He recognized the tugging sensation, and began thrashing against it mentally.

_No!!!! No, I'm not going through this again! It's just a dream!!_

—_it was late at night, with a cool breeze flinging Leo's bandana tails around his face, the material striking his cheeks—_

_NO!!!!_ Leo was screaming, his mind trapped again in what he could no longer pass off as a dream. He could actually feel the breeze this time, could feel the sensation of the bandana material whipping against his skin. _This isn't real! It's not!_ He pulled in as much strength as he could, fighting against the vision with the force of his will, but another fragment attached itself, building the nightmare chain even stronger.

—_the full moon cast mingled bars of light and shadow on the rooftops, momentarily revealing him and his brothers to any sharp eyes—_

Strength was quickly deserting him, sapped away by his fear, as well as the suffocating potency of his premonition. _No!! Please—let this just go away…_

—_despite the pleasant evening, worry and concern were pumping through his veins, moving him faster as his senses prickled with urgency—_

Leo could feel sweat beading on his forehead, but quickly lost the sensation as the vision dragged at his mind, submersing him. _No…not real…it's just…just a…_

—_he kept running, his mind full of the knowledge of the grim purpose of their midnight run; Karai had sent them a threat, and they had to get to April's, he had to—_

…_dream…_

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Leo shot straight up in bed, his heart going seventy miles an hour. His eyes darted around the room as he tried to reassure himself he was home, and he was fine.

_Fine…_Leo thought mockingly, burying his face in his hands. _Yeah, right_.

His whole body shook with tension and suppressed emotions as he tried to recover. The vision had returned again, but longer this time; it felt like it was a picture, and more was being painted each time he went through it. He squeezed his eyes shut, recalling what had happened. Everything had been more detailed this time, except for the end…just like the last time, it had flown by so fast, leaving him grasping after half-seen moments and reeling from the force of phantom emotions he couldn't even begin to describe. One thing _had_ changed at the end, though; two crystal clear images were there that hadn't been there before. First, there was a strange man in front of him bearing a sword, a man he had never seen before, while the Foot Elite were surrounding him. Leo also had his swords drawn, but they were covered with blood…as was he. Then next thing he had seen was the Shredder's skyscraper vanishing from the New York skyline, all the forces of the Foot ranged across its height.

Leo sighed, glancing down at his hands. _So much for being a dream. No dream happens three times…and not like that…_A quick look at the clock showed that it was only 3:30 in the morning. He stood and walked to the mirror, trying to see if the vision had left any mark on him. His skin was slightly pale, and dark circles looked like they were trying to gain a footing under his tired eyes. Leo glanced back at his bed, but quickly turned away. No matter how tired he was, the thought of sleeping was decidedly unappealing now. Grabbing his pads and sword equipment, he dressed and quietly made his way downstairs.

He exercised for almost two hours before he felt more like himself. Halfway through his third round of katas, Leo began to feel himself relax, the painful amount of tension in his muscles diminishing. He slowly began to fall into the half-aware state of meditation he entered when he practiced these moves, ones he knew so well they were automatic. His mind once again drifted to the issue of his vision.

_Yeah, **vision**, not dream._ A quiet voice spoke from the back of his conscience, the annoying one that he hated having to listen to. _You can't deny that it's real anymore; you'd only be lying to yourself_.

Leo's jaw tightened, but he kept his movements flowing through the pattern of the kata. This voice always seemed to point out what he often wanted to ignore. _I know that._

_So you admit it's real?_

_I…_His teeth ground together painfully, but he knew he couldn't ignore this problem any longer. _Yes. It's real. Are you happy now?_

_Thrilled._

Leo really hated it when even his inner voice started sounding like Raph. _Great. So will you leave now?_

_No._

_Why **not**?_

_You still have to deal with this, Leonardo. It's not going to go away just because you don't like it. You're actually getting some warning about the next disaster in your life; why not use it?_

What was supposed to be a simple block turned into a jerky chop as Leo's anger flared. _I can't use it because I don't understand it._

_Master Splinter used **his** premonition, and you ended up saving the Utroms._

_That's different_, Leo snarled. He struggled to calm down, feeling slightly odd arguing with a voice in his head. _Master Splinter actually had a **real** premonition; it showed him things and he was able to interpret them. He had a picture to go by; all I've got is a defective puzzle with half the pieces missing._

_Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Why not at least use what you know so far?_

Leo slowed to a halt, the thought pricking at his interest. _What do you mean?_

_What information do you have from the dream?_

His eyes narrowed in thought as he tried to pick through the random images. _I know…that it's going to happen at night. It's also going to be a little cool…_

_What else?_

_There will be a full moon_. He knelt into _seiza_ on the tatami mats, his mind fully occupied now. _And…April…_

_What about her?_

Leo paused, hesitant to say the words, as though it would make them even truer. _She'll be in trouble._

The voice persisted. _What will happen next?_

_I don't know…we…we'll be attacked, but…the rest is just a blur._ He had no intact memories of the dream's finale, other than the chilling awareness of death. _How does this help me?_

_Well, what phase is the moon in right now?_

_It's a three-quarters crescent_, Leo responded promptly. _So what?_

_So, now you have a date. Find out when the moon waxes._

_How will that help? A full moon lasts a couple days._

The voice sighed and sounded exasperated. _You just have to be difficult about this, don't you? Yes, it lasts a couple days, but how is that a problem? You can pinpoint those days, which narrows your window of when this will occur considerably. You've been on guard for long periods of time before; I doubt you'll have trouble doing so again for the few days a full moon lasts._

_Fine. Thanks for your help,_ Leo thought curtly, intent on finding a calendar so he could start preparing. _I can take care of it from here_.

Another sigh. _Aren't you forgetting something? Or to be specific, three green somethings?_

_If you mean Raph, Don and Mikey, then yes. And it's going to stay that way,_ Leo retorted. _You saw what happened. At least, I think you did—whatever. My brothers…they end up hurt, possibly dead; therefore, they're not coming._

All trace of humor was gone in an instant, the tone sternly serious. _You can't exclude them, Leonardo._

_Watch me._

The voice laughed at him, sounding again annoyingly like Raph. _Do you honestly think you could stop them even if you tried? You—we—have lived with them for seventeen, almost eighteen years. They already know you're acting oddly, so they're going to be watching you to make sure you're okay. And even if you somehow manage to convince Don and Mikey to stay behind—which, might I add, is doubtful—we both know your chances of getting Raph to listen to you are zilch._

_I'll figure something out._

_Oh sure. I can just hear it now: "I'll see you later, guys; I'm just going out for an innocent late-night run after I've been acting weird for the past few days. Don't stay up too late, and I'll be back later!" That'll go over like a ton of lead bricks._

_Will you shut up already?_ Leo fumed. _I said I'll take care of it._

Another sigh, this one decidedly more annoyed. _You just aren't getting this, are you? This is a premonition, a warning of **what is to come**. This vision was sent to you so that you could prepare yourself for it. You got it so that you will know what's coming, and what you need to do. That's what happened with Master Splinter's vision. It's a matter of duty; you know that April's going to be in trouble, and you owe it to her to protect her. Besides, there's a chance you'll get rid of the Foot._

_Oh right; one spastic little glimpse at the very end of a messed-up dream is **really** something to go on._

_Shell, you're thick! Look, the whole Foot army, along with a **giant skyscraper** all disappear. Things don't get any clearer than that!_

_That's not—_Leo palmed his face in frustration. _Why am I arguing with myself?!_

_Because half of your self is stupid!_ The voice snapped. _And it's not me!!_

_Oh, shut up._

_Look, you're actually getting some warning for once, so use it! Tell your brothers about this; it involves them, and they deserve to know._

_But—_

_You always work best as a team, right? You know April's going to be involved, and you can't face the number of Foot that you saw, not by yourself._

_I know that…_

_Then do what you know you need to do. Trust your family._

Leo's eyes narrowed. _I **do** trust them!_

_Not as much as you should. You need to trust them with their own lives. Trust them to make their own decisions. You can't protect them from everything; they're going to do what they want. Trust them to stand by your side; they always have, and you **know**…_

_That I wouldn't want it any other way,_ Leo finished. He sighed, ruefully agreeing. "Alright," he whispered out loud, both to himself and his inner voice. "I'll tell them."

"Tell who what?" A gruff voice inquired mildly.

Leo's head shot up to see his brothers standing in the doorway of the dojo. His brow furrowed slightly. "What the shell are you guys doing up so early?"

"Early?" Don looked slightly amused. "Leo, it's nearly 7; it's almost time for practice."

"It's seven already?" Leo frowned and quickly tried to stand. Unfortunately, his legs, now thoroughly numb after being knelt on for so long, decided instead to buckle and dump him on his shell. The fatigue that he had ignored for the past few hours was rapidly creeping up on him, compounding with the lack of sleep from the previous day as well. He sighed and lay there, spread-eagled on the mats of the dojo. _Oh yeah, it's going to be a **really** good day…_

A green face suddenly appeared above his own. Don's expression was full of concern. "Leo, how long have you been in here?"

Leo sighed again. "Since about 3:30."

"Why the hell did you get up that early?!" Raph demanded.

"Language, Raphael."

"It's English, _Leonardo_," his brother shot back.

Don laid a restraining hand on Raph's plastron, and turned back to Leo. "Any particular reason for getting up after only two and a half hours of sleep?"

"Didn't want to sleep, couldn't sleep, take your pick," Leo said, staring at the ceiling.

"Leo, you look awful."

"Thanks, Don; it's nice to know I can always count on your diplomacy."

"Be serious, bro; how do you feel?"

"Honestly? Like shell. I feel as bad as I apparently look, and to top it all off, I've got a headache so bad it's got its own zip code."

Mikey's head popped into Leo's field of vision, a grin on his face. "All five digits?"

Leo grinned back tiredly. "All five digits _and_ the four other random numbers you stick on the end."

The orange-banded turtle whistled. "Dang. Want some breakfast? And maybe half a bottle of Advil?"

"Throw in a bottle of sleeping pills too and you've got a deal."

Mikey grinned. "You got it, bro."

"Absolutely not," Don interjected, hauling Leo to his feet with Raph's help. "I refuse to start my day by watching you OD on pills, Leo. You get coffee, two Advil, and a nap later if you need it, but that's it. No sleeping pills."

"Spoilsport."

"You'll get over it."

The four of them filed into the kitchen, and Leo immediately plopped down into a chair, dropping his face on the table with a groan.

Mikey glanced at his brother as he made coffee and rummaged through the cupboards for some pancake mix. "Hey Leo, what _were_ you doing in there so early anyways?"

"Hmm? Oh." Leo sighed, his voice muffled by the wood of the table. "I—I need to tell you guys something," he said softly, his voice serious.

His brothers stared at him, wondering at the sudden change in attitude. "What? What's wrong?" Make asked.

Don placed a careful hand on his brother's arm. "Leo, what are you talking about?"

Leo stuck a hand out in Mikey's general direction. "Coffee. Please." When a full cup was placed in his hand, he quickly drank half of it in one shot. Setting the mug down on the table, Leo shuddered as the caffeine hit his system, then met his brothers' troubled gazes. "These past couple of nights, I've been having…premonitions."

"WHAT?!" Three voices exploded at the same time.

"Yeah," Leo said, nodding guiltily.

"Then, yesterday…?" Don trailed off.

"Yes, that's what happened yesterday morning; it wasn't a nightmare you guys woke me up from, it was…that. It happened again this morning, which is partly why I was in the dojo for hours this early."

Don looked flabbergasted, but somehow managed to find his voice. "Only partly why you were in there?"

"Yeah," Leo said quietly, nodding. "The other part was trying to figure out if I should tell you guys or not."

"What? Why the shell wouldn't you tell us?" Raph demanded.

The blue-banded turtle dropped his gaze. "Because what I've seen—it's not something we should want to get into."

"What happens?" Mikey asked carefully, his expression troubled.

Leo winced, running a hand over his face before looking up again. "I—no. We—" He sighed. "Get Master Splinter; he'll need to hear this too."

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"…and then the end of the dream is just a blur," Leo said quietly. "It's kind of like the rest of the dream, a series of scenes, but they move so fast that I can't really remember anything concrete. All I can remember is…fighting Karai, and a lot of…blood, and then I—I think someone dies," he finished in a tired whisper.

Don, Raph, Mikey and Master Splinter all stared at Leo as he finished his tale. It took a while for anyone to find their voices, and it was Master Splinter who spoke first.

"And is that the end of your vision, Leonardo?"

Leo shook his head. "No, Sensei. After that, it's—the vision gets weird. Well, weird**er**, at least. Everything's black for a while, and then there are two more split-second images. First I saw this man, and I somehow know that he's connected to the Foot, but he's a complete stranger. He's armed with a sword, and I've got my swords out too. And I just got this flash of emotion that there's a very important reason why I need to beat him, but I don't know what."

"And the last image?"

"The last image…" Leo sighed, fatigue showing more clearly than ever on his face. "The last image is even weirder. I saw Foot headquarters, Saki's skyscraper, and the Foot are all over it, standing on every open space on the outside. And then suddenly the whole building disappears, along with all of the Foot, and the skyline sort of adjusts itself, like the building was never there."

"And that's it; after that, I woke up."

Splinter's brows lowered in concern. "This is most troubling. I have not sensed anything regarding the actions of the Foot, but with your vision…" He sighed and looked around the table, meeting all four of the turtles' gazes. "An end to this struggle between our clans has been coming for many years, my sons. We cannot escape Fate; no one can. All we can do now is be thankful for the warning we have received and try to prepare for this battle in the time we are given."

The four turtles nodded, their expressions both resolved and troubled.

Splinter stood, making his way to his room. "I must meditate upon this. Leonardo, I wish you to let me know if anything else comes to you."

Leo nodded. "Hai, Sensei."

The kitchen was silent after the rat's departure, the revelation of Leo's dream sitting heavily on the turtles' minds.

"I'm sorry."

Don, Raph and Mikey looked up when Leo spoke, slightly surprised to hear him talking again. He didn't meet their gazes, but kept his tired eyes on the table. "I know I should have told you guys sooner instead of keeping this from you," he said softly.

"Yeah, you should have," Don agreed bluntly, traces of his hurt showing in his expression. "We're brothers, Leo; it shouldn't take a vision of death for you to actually talk to us."

Leo cringed slightly and buried his face in his hands. "I know. I know, Don; and I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay, Leo," Mikey said, trying to smooth things over. "You were freaked out, and your dream doesn't really sound like a fun one to share."

"Thanks, Mikey."

Silence fell over the kitchen again before Raph finally spoke. "So what're we s'posed to do now?"

Don stood suddenly and made his way out of the kitchen, returning shortly after with his laptop. Setting it down, he reclaimed his seat and opened several windows. Looking at his brothers, he spoke matter-of-factly. "What we're going to do is take care of this logically."

"Um, Donnie?" Mikey piped up. "We're dealing with a vision of creepy ninjas and destruction; I don't think science is gonna help with that too much."

"I never said science, Mikey, I said logic," Don retorted. "Okay. Leo, give me all the details you can about your dream."

Leo narrowed his eyes, thinking hard. "Uhm, right. Okay, well, it's…it's gonna be a full moon. And it'll be pretty cool that night too."

"Okay…" Don said distractedly, typing furiously at the keyboard. "Harvest moon? And can you give me an estimate for a temperature?"

"No, it's not a harvest moon, just a regular full moon. And for temperature?" Leo's gaze drifted to the side, his eyes hazy and unfocused as he tried to pull up the memories of his vision. "Probably about…60s, low 60s, I think. And there's a bit of a breeze too."

"Alright." Grabbing the mouse, Don clicked several times and pulled up a new window. "Now. Where are you?"

"Rooftops…heading to April's…" Leo mumbled, his voice quiet.

"No, where are you when you stop? Where are you when we get surrounded?"

"Rooftop…there's…there's a bunch of chimneys on the…the eastern side of the roof…"

"Good. What landmarks can you see? Are you near any billboards?"

"I can see the old movie theatre…and the…that new insurance billboard is two buildings over."

"That's great, Leo. Anything else?"

"The chimneys…there's Foot ninja by them…" Leo's voice slowly became strained, his breathing coming faster. "They're everywhere—"

Don looked at his brother, frowning. "That's good enough, Leo. Snap out of it."

"There's too many, I can't—"

"Raph," Don snapped, firing a glance at the red-banded turtle. "Wake him up."

"Oh, right, 'cuz that worked so well _last_ time," Raph grumbled. He carefully approached Leo from the side, and grabbed the blue-banded turtle's shoulder firmly. "Leo, snap out of it, yer at home at the—"

In the split second right after Raph's hand made contact, Leo latched onto Raph's wrist and with a quick turn and a tug, flipped him towards the table. Mikey yelped and dove out of the way while Don quickly saved his laptop. Seconds later, Raph landed right where the computer had rested, crashing onto his shell.

"—kitchen table," Raph finished, groaning. He jerked his wrist free from Leo's grip as the older turtle slowly came back to his senses. "I'm gettin' really frickin' sick of this," the hothead snapped, rubbing his shell as he stalked away towards the dojo.

"Shell…" Leo breathed shakily, closing his eyes as he tried to calm himself. "I hate this _so_ much." Glancing up, he looked around the table. His eyes narrowed. "Wait, where's Raph?"

Mikey grinned weakly. "Um, you kinda threw him into the table, so he's…venting a bit in the dojo."

Leo groaned. "Not again…" He heaved himself to his feet, turning to Don before leaving. "Did you get enough information, Don?"

"Yeah, this'll help. Mikey and I can plot out a possible area so we know a little better what to expect. Go talk to Raph."

"_Talk_. Right." Leo sighed, exhaustion written in his posture as he made his way to the dojo. He could hear Mikey and Don talking quietly behind him as he left, comparing thoughts on where Leo's dream had taken place.

Leo approached the dojo and peered inside carefully. Raph was in his usual spot, going after the punching bag like it was worst enemy. _Or me,_ Leo thought bleakly. Taking a deep breath, he quietly entered the room, closing the door behind him. He approached Raph from the side, not getting very near to him, but close enough that he knew his brother was aware of his presence. When the red-banded turtle said nothing but continued assaulting the punching bag, Leo sighed and spoke up carefully.

"Raph, are you okay? Look, I'm really sorry about throwing you, I—"

"Ya didn't mean to do it, I know. I'm fine," Raph muttered, sending a serious of vicious phoenix punches at the canvas surface in front of him.

"Are you sure? Raph, the whole thing with the Foot and Karai…I know it doesn't sound too good, but—"

Raph delivered one final kick to the punching bag before whirling to face his brother. "No, it ain't the Foot, shell-fer-brains. We can handle whatever they throw at us; always have, always will. And it ain't Karai either, 'cause that bitch deserves whatever's comin' to her; and if that's my sai or your sword in her gut, then good. I don't run from anyone; I ain't that worried about the fight."

"Then what is it?" Leo asked.

"It's _you_!" Raph shouted angrily, stabbing his finger at Leo.

"Me?" Leo's expression was confused and hurt. "What did I do?"

Raph's hands tightened into fists, then suddenly loosened as he seemed to deflate. "You lied ta me, bro," he said, a slightly wounded tone in his voice. "I asked you straight to yer face if this was more than a dream, an' you lied to me. I know we ain't that close, but still, ya just—ah, forget it, never mind." He shook his head and moved to walk past his brother.

Leo's hand shot out and grabbed Raph's arm. "No, I didn't. Raph, listen, please," Leo pleaded, trying to get his brother to stop. "I didn't mean to lie to you it's just—I…I was scared."

The quiet admission stopped Raph in his tracks. He turned and looked incredulously at his brother. "Say what?"

Leo nodded slightly, avoiding Raph's eyes. "I was scared. The things I saw…you guys lying on the roof…it terrified me. And I _felt_ someone _die_, someone close to me, and I don't know who; I don't even know who to _try_ and protect. When you asked me if it was just a dream, I wasn't trying to lie to you. I said it was because I was trying to convince myself that it was."

"You what? Why?"

"Why?" Leo's look was as incredulous as his brother's. "How can you ask that? After what I'd seen, why _wouldn't_ I want to believe it was just a dream?"

"But just ignorin' it?" Raph's brows lowered slightly. "I'd think you of all people would know that that ain't the way ta go about things, bro."

"I know…I know it isn't, it's just—" Leo gave a weak laugh. "I guess I was hoping that if I ignored it hard enough and long enough, it would just…go away."

Raph grinned and relented, putting his arm around Leo's shoulders and guiding him out of the dojo. "Nice try, bro. But I've been tryin' the same thing with yer lectures and Mikey for years, and no dice. There's no way it'd be fair for that ta work for you in just a coupla days."

"For _years_?" Leo asked, laughing. "Geez, Raph, I thought you were supposed to be trying to make me feel better, not worse."

"Not my job, bro; you got Don and Master Splinter fer ego-boosts. I'm here ta keep ya humble."

Leo snorted and shoved Raph's arm away. "Right. And you do a fine job of it, trust me."

Raph grinned and waved as he headed towards his room. "I aim ta please."

The blue-banded turtle shook his head as Raph walked away. _I'll never understand him. For that matter, I'll never understand **us**; why does it always take a near-disaster for us to actually talk to each other?_ Thinking back on their times in the bathroom and now the dojo, and then on the portents of his vision, Leo smiled sadly.

_Well, I suppose it's better late than never…_

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**A/N: And then there were three. Three chapters, that is. I'm really sorry again about the crazy delay, but at least this is nice and long, right? Hella angsty, though. As you can tell, this dream is very powerful to Leo, and also very hard for him to deal with; and on another note, no, he's not crazy. I know you all know how you argue with yourself, and that's what Leo's doing here. Get it? Got it? Good. :D**

**This is actually the second submission of this chapter. Thanks to the good advice of Aurora Musis Amica, I changed part of it. For those of you who've already read it, you'll see it's not a really big change. For those who haven't, you've got no clue what I'm talking about, but just trust me that it's a change for the better. I originally had Leo revealing his dream by accident, but Aurora pointed out that that doesn't really do justice to the drama I've been building up throughout this chapter. Plus, it takes Leo a long time to come to the decision of telling his brothers, and I want people to be proud of him for being honest, rather than only telling the guys because it slipped out. (The first edition really _was_ a little trite, but I'd been working on this for ages, and I was having trouble deciding where to go.) So there we go, and a big thank you to Aurora for her advice.**

**I feel really bad about the crappy lack of updating, but at least this is finally up. And from this point on, unless I get another bad case of writer's block, updates should hopefully come a little faster; from now on I know what I want to happen, except for a couple parts, so there won't be many delays because I don't know how to have the story flow. Also, some parts of the story from here on are already written. So hopefully that will allow me to speed up the updates, 'cause four weeks is ridiculous.**

**And now on to some detail stuff. This is set after Leo got all un-emo-fied, just so everyone knows. I'm pretty sure I already established that, but I wanted to make sure that was understood. It's basically kind of after "The Prodigal Son", but before "Ninja Tribunal". It's just sort of floating around in that timeline. :D I really don't know where this chapter came from; I know where the story is going there, but I'm still iffy on what's going to fill the gaps. But this chapter kinda took me by surprise too. Even though I try to do the straight writing, where I write each chapter at one sitting, I still can't quite do it anymore. I'm still writing the chapters by starting with the main events that occur, and then I just kind of fill in the connections in the story. It normally works, but as we can see with the dreadful delay of this chapter, it also has its flaws.**

**I'm hoping that everyone likes this chapter; I know that not too much happened, but again, I need a couple chapters to set the scene before everything starts going nuts. And it will, believe me; this will be a busy story. So for those of you who are bored (I'm hoping no one is, but it happens), fear not, things should start picking up soon. :D I know Leo was all over the place, but I'm hoping you guys will understand why; despite his healing, what happened in "Exodus" really messed him up, and he's afraid to let anything like that happen again.**

**And now I have a big favor to ask of you guys; I need some information. I've got another story idea that's bugging me, but I need some background stuff before I can write it. And I'm hoping that just getting these questions answered will make the plot bunnies of the story leave me alone so I don't have any other distractions when it comes to writing and posting _this_ story. So if any of you know the answers to these questions, please let me know. Here goes: When all the guys got split up by Ultimate Draco, and Leo went to Usagi's world (I think the episode was called "The Real World"), what was it like? Also, was it established that there was a time difference between his world and Earth? Or was the time difference thing between Earth and the Battle Nexus? Any other information anyone has pertaining to Usagi and his world would be very much appreciated.**

**And I think that's it! These author notes have been running on for ages, so I'm heading out. Thanks so much for reading, and please review! Thanks!**


	4. Calm Before the Storm

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own 'em. As we've seen by what I've written so far, the TMNT show would probably be a lot less kid-friendly if I did. XD_

_Special thanks to **Aurora Musis Amica, Deana, Veriandise, Pi90katana, Sewer Slider, BubblyShell22, **and **Swallowraven** for reviewing Chapter 3!! You guys are amazing, and you make my day!!!!_

_Alrighty, on to the next chapter! Just so it's clear, this first part (with Karai) and the next part (with the Turtles) take place the same day, about the same time. And…yeah. All the other notes are at the bottom of this, so with no ado at all, here's the chapter. :D_

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Karai stormed into her chambers, slamming the door behind her and throwing herself onto the bed. Glaring at the ceiling angrily, she blew out a sigh.

_Two hours. **Two hours**, completely wasted._

She had just returned from the daily rounds with her ninja and was bitter about what had happened. The first hour had been spent watching the various regiments training, the second in a meeting with the most loyal of the Foot Elite. And she was not happy with what she had seen and heard.

The training session was dismal. Karai couldn't remember exactly when it had started, but her Foot ninjas' skills had deteriorated drastically. In nearly every sparring match, in almost each ninja's movements, glaring and novice mistakes stuck out like sore thumbs. A weak block countered an equally feeble strike; a perfect opening for a throw or disarm went unnoticed; and several ninja were actually knocked out of their stances, their weight unbalanced, their postures shoddy.

Karai's lip curled at the memory of their disgraceful performances. _Pathetic._

The whisper of a harsh voice crept into her mind. _As well as disgusting and shameful. A warrior is a reflection of their master; the disgrace falls on you as well. And with your failure, you dishonor **your** master as well._

Her heart sunk into her stomach, settling there with an icy splash. More and more lately she had found herself trying to ignore that small voice and the truth that its words carried. When her father left, she had been uncertain and apprehensive about taking up leadership of the Foot. Her father assured her of his faith in her abilities, however, so she had taken her pride in his words and turned it into confidence. Unfortunately, lately it seemed more and more that her master's faith was misplaced. The abilities of the Foot ninja were declining and more seemed to go wrong every day.

_How did it come to this?_ she wondered, thinking back on how well things had begun. Karai's first months of leadership were flawless; all members of the Foot were shaken by their leader's departure, as well as by the news of his banishment. After she returned to the headquarters, Karai forced her own turbulent emotions aside and capitalized on those of her followers, easily gaining their faith and loyalty by portraying herself as the hard, powerful leader they craved. They needed and wanted leadership, having spent too much of their lives as followers to lead themselves. Her façade of confidence and power had made it easy to cow them; it helped, too, that many respected her for the favor she had found in the Shredder's eyes. All of these aided in the transition, making it smoother than Karai could have dreamed. But, as the saying went, the honeymoon was soon over.

As the months went by the forces of the Foot regained their confidence and nerve, flourishing under Karai's leadership; she ruled them like the Shredder had, with respect gained through fear, and the similarities had comforted them. However, they soon began to become disgruntled. Nothing had happened for many months, and the inactivity chafed them. Karai's most loyal followers had come to her many times, bringing tidings of dissatisfaction and discontentment, as well as warnings. _'The men are restless',_ they said. _'They wonder why my lady Shredder has not acted against the cursed Turtles yet.'_

'_They wonder at your ability to lead.'_

That had been the final straw. Karai doubted herself and knew full well that it was acceptable to do so; she had little leadership background to draw on, and she knew that her doubt would keep her from getting cocky and making mistakes.

But _others_ doubting her? Her subordinates, the weaklings she led, _doubting **her**_? And worse effrontery, they were even daring to voice these beliefs of weakness aloud? That could not be tolerated. If she had learned anything from her father, it was that insubordination, disloyalty and doubt could not be allowed to exist amongst one's followers; if it did, one ran the risk of the doubt growing into revolt, so it must be eliminated swiftly—and by any means necessary.

So the situation was handled; the doubters were taken care of. Karai ordered the Elite to seek out the dissenters, and had them executed. And at that, the tone of the forces had changed marvelously fast. Suddenly, all the ninja were falling over themselves to assure Karai of their loyalty and love for her, and she was pleased. Her father had had the right of it; ruling through fear is stunningly productive. However, she had known better than to get overconfident and comfortable again; these men were weak of character and flighty, and this—gentle reminder—of who was leader would not last for long. Unless she acted soon, the warning would be forgotten, and the next time, a handful of executions might not be enough to quell the problem. She needed to act quickly in order to assure all the Foot that this caution against doubting her abilities wasn't merely an empty threat. So Karai let no time pass her by. Calling together the most loyal, she voiced her plan: a full-scale assault on the Turtles, on their own turf.

The results were instantaneous. Though already devoted to her, her favorites' loyalties were further ensured; they highly approved of the plan, and with her approval, spread the news to all forces. The headquarters were soon buzzing with activity, even more after Karai made another announcement: only the best ninja would be given the honor of being part of the attack. Every ninja wanted a chance to be on that assignment; after countless humiliations by the Turtles, every Foot member was practically drooling for the opportunity.

Everyone was trying to show their best. Training sessions took on a fervor they hadn't had since her father died; sparring was worth watching for anyone wanting a thrill. The Foot technicians were equally amazing, turning out beautiful robots and amazing enhancements. After a few more weeks, when Karai judged it was time, she gave the announcement and chose her ninja. There were a few more days of preparation…

And then they struck, bursting into the Turtles' lair and bringing the assault right to their doorstep. Karai shook her head when she remembered the pride, the confidence she felt when she first saw the Turtles' faces, saw their fear and anger and hate, and ordered the attack. She frowned. _And that's where it fell apart._

The first blow was that _Leonardo was not there_. Karai could have truly cared less about his brothers; they were not the real prizes. She cared only about destroying Leonardo and his rat master, Splinter; Leonardo for herself, and Splinter for her father. The others would merely be bonuses. But no, Leonardo was gone, so she would just have to leave a welcome home present behind. But the second blow came when her forces could not even give her _that_; all of the freaks escaped, even the old rat, though he had to be carried out.

_Even then, I was sure I would be triumphant,_ Karai sneered to herself. She had done her research carefully, and knew of all of the Turtles' machines and exits; she had her ninja positioned and ready on land, in the river, and even in the sky. And then those three wonderful calls…possibly the loveliest things she had ever heard in her life…

"_Mistress Karai, the rat and the one called Donatello have been destroyed."_

"_Mistress Karai, the one called Michelangelo has been destroyed."_

"_Mistress Karai, the one called Raphael has been eliminated."_

And suddenly, it was over; the Turtles were no more. Celebration ran rampant through the halls of the Foot headquarters, especially among those chosen to go on the mission. Karai too was filled emotion; joy, satisfaction, and pride. It was even enough to ease the blow of Leonardo's absence; upon finding his home destroyed and his family killed, he would be weak and easy to break. Everything had fallen into place. She had done what even her father had not done: she had destroyed the Turtles and their master. Surely this would appease her father's spirit.

She had dressed completely in her father's old armor, the armor of the Shredder, and went to present the news to his statue; with her father gone, this makeshift shrine was all she had left of him. And then the third blow fell.

Leonardo was there, alive and in _her_ sanctuary. The familiar hatred had filled her at that point, and she had reveled in his anger at her attack on his family.

_And yet…even then I knew that something was wrong_, she mused. _He was calm and collected; he showed no pain over the loss of his family when it should have crushed him._

But she had ignored that small warning bell in her mind, attacking him as ferociously as she could. _This_ was what she had truly wanted, to kill Leonardo with her own hands. _He_ was the cause for _everything_ that had gone wrong, and only his death would fix things. But yet again, things got worse. Leonardo was different; there was a level of calmness in him that almost disturbed her, and his skills were better than ever…better than hers.

She was defeated. Defeated _and_ dishonored, because even when he beat her, he still wouldn't kill her. He had warned her, in a voice that had given her chills, and he had defaced her father's statue…but he still didn't kill her.

Things fell apart after that. A few days later she learned from several of her ninja that the attack had been a failure; all of the freaks had lived, including the rat. Her failure, combined with the confusion and turmoil over Leonardo's mercy, drove her into herself…and she had only recently come out of it enough to realize that the Foot were falling apart.

The failure had hit her ninja hard as well. Those who hadn't been chosen for the attack were still jealous of those who had, regardless of whether they had been victorious. Dissension spread among the ranks, and fights broke out constantly. The men were in a shambles, and that disorder was now shown clearly, now that she was willing to open her eyes and see it.

Karai groaned, trying to tame the thoughts and worries crowding her mind. _Days like this…days when the world is crumbling down and **everything** is going wrong…I hate these days. They should not even occur. With the amount of power I have, the amount of control…the world ought to tremble, not crumble._ She snorted at her own folly and stood, striding to her father's old throne room—the Shredder's quarters.

_Her_ quarters.

She sighed, kneeling in front of the small table and spreading out the papers stacked there. One paper in particular was staring her in the face, covered with the second ugly truth that she had been forced to face in the second half of her dismal afternoon.

The meeting with the Foot Elite had been nearly as disturbing as the training session. The leader of the quartet, her most loyal soldier, had immediately started the meeting by handing her the paper she now looked at, letting her realize what she couldn't believe she had missed:

Her army had shrunk drastically.

At first she had been unwilling to believe it, but then she remembered the training session from earlier; now that she thought about it, looking past the sad performance, the forces that had once filled the room near to bursting only filled a bit more than half of the space. Once she had actually been able to process the information, she'd turned on the Elite, demanding an explanation; however, she soon found herself wishing that she hadn't even asked.

The first contributor, she found out, was the executions and the attack; they had lost a good deal of ninja because of their disloyalty, and there were also casualties from the attack on the Turtles' home. But even those could not fully account for the amount of ninja missing. That was when Karai discovered the second and even worse cause for the loss of size in her army:

Deserters.

_Deserters…cowards…disgusting weaklings_, Karai snarled to herself, her blood boiling even now at the thought of it. _Would that I could find every single one…I would make them truly understand the price of disloyalty, and that **no one** leaves the Foot._

That had to be the most infuriating part; she longed for nothing more than to destroy each deserter for turning their backs on the Foot, and yet she could not. It turned out that more than leadership had changed with the loss of her father; camaraderie had as well. Very few ninja actually knew each other's names now, and no one could name for her which ninja had deserted. And her father's records, the meticulous lists and tallies of all the ninja in his service, had been conveniently lost or destroyed, furthering removing the deserters from her wrath.

It was infuriating, and embarrassing beyond belief. When she had finally understood the situation, it was all she could do not to cringe in front of the Elite; she felt like a green novice, and shuddered at the thought of what her father would say.

_So now I must see if it is too late to rectify this mistake_, Karai thought to herself, shifting through the papers in front of her. With the help of several, she had managed to find the remaining lists of names, and studied them now in disbelief.

All that was left of her forces was a paltry one hundred and twenty men, ridiculous considering the full two hundred ninja that her father had ruled.

_Eighty men…**eighty** of them, gone. Thirty lost in the attack, twenty executed, and thirty deserters. If only I could find them._

Karai sighed, racking her brain. She was out of ideas, and quickly running out of time; if thirty had deserted already, then drastic measures needed to be taken. Threats on men's lives or the lives of their families would only keep them loyal for so long. A smirk grew on her face. _Eventually, even the most cowardly rat will abandon the sinking ship, even if they do not know how to swim._

She shook her head and took a deep breath. _Enough of this. I must step back. I must look at this as simply as possible. My ninja are deserting, so I must give them cause to stay. What do men want? Money, power, security, and satisfaction. Money…all ninja are well-provided for. Power…power is not an option; if they doubt my rule, I will not do anything to risk any more problems. Security…they have all of the Foot to turn to for protection, as do their families. Satisfaction…all men find satisfaction in victory. So to solve **that** problem…_

Her eyes narrowed. "We must destroy the Turtles." Karai's memory flicked back through the past few months, easily recalling how well things had gone before the attack on the Turtles. _If only we had truly succeeded, this would not be an issue. If we tried again, and the Turtles **were** killed, everything would essentially be solved. They are they biggest obstacle standing between us and full control of the city. But how to bring them down?_

Karai stared at her desk without really seeing in, sinking deeply into her thoughts. _Another assault on their stronghold will not work; the men are unlikely to have faith in such an attack again, and even if they **were **willing to try it once more, we do not have the Turtles' location. They are hiding…so we must draw them out. But what to use for the bait? We could capture one, and the others would naturally come running right into the palm of my hand, but none of them have been seen for days; hunted prey is always twice as cautious as soon as it becomes aware of the hunter's presence. What else is precious to them? Or rather, **who** else?_

The answer suddenly clicked in her mind. _Her. That O'Neil woman who worked for Stockman. They are obviously attached to her, and she would be easy prey._ The thoughts started coming faster, linking together. _Yes…she could be found again easily, and a message left for the Turtles. And then, they come running, and I kill them all, one by one._

A dreamy smile grew on Karai's face as she picked up her father's clawed gauntlet, running a finger along one edge. _Perhaps I could rip each one of them apart, piece by piece. Or I could give them to my men, and let them share in the fun…except for Leonardo._

_He is **mine** to destroy._

A sudden voice cut into her thoughts. _Had you actually been loyal to your father, Leonardo would already be dead. Your father was going to destroy him, but you stopped him. All of this is **your** fault._

The smile fell off of her face as she remembered the fateful events on her father's spaceship. Seeing him lift Leonardo's limp, battered body, watching him lift the claws, about to kill him—and then her interference as she saved Leonardo.

_And for what? For **what**? _She sighed tiredly. _I still do not even know._

Part of her had wanted to let her master do it. Part of her had wanted to let him kill Leonardo, to make it easier on her. With Leonardo gone, there would be no more pain. No more indecision, no more confusion...before she had met Leonardo, she had never questioned what she did. She never thought twice about anything her master ordered; there was only acknowledgement and obedience. And then _he_ came into her life, and nothing was the same again. Yet despite the chaos he brought to her life, she couldn't seem to bring herself to kill him. There was an attraction, an undeniable connection between them that she couldn't seem to shake. But the battle between their families demanded that they remained enemies, hence the uneasy animosity between her and Leonardo. She had been so torn that by the time her father nearly killed Leonardo…she almost didn't stop him. It would be so much easier if he was killed, because then she wouldn't have to choose; the choice would be made for her. It was only at the last moment that a small voice had whispered in her head, telling her that her father would disgrace himself if he did this. Later, she realized with a sinking feeling that the voice had sounded unnervingly like Leonardo.

And that was just like something he would say, wasn't it? That was Leonardo, a true ninja, right down to his thrice-cursed _honor_. Karai was an excellent warrior; no one could argue that. She had been trained by one of the best in the ways of Ninjitsu, and had surpassed countless other fighters. Leonardo, too, was nearly peerless; even his brothers could not fully match up to his level of skill. But that was where their similarities ended. Because for her, _bushido_ carried no serious meaning for her beyond its provision of "honor your master". But for Leonardo, _bushido_ was life. For Leonardo, honor was all, and living in honor meant always doing what was right.

Even if it went against your master's wishes.

_We are enemies. We are so **different** from each other. So why? Why does his opinion mean so much to me?_

Leonardo had somehow become her conscience, and the presence of such a thing unnerved her. She was her master's greatest weapon, often acting as guard and assassin, and in such professions, a conscience only got in the way. But that fact was beginning to tear her apart; if she had lacked a conscience, or merely ignored it before, then had she actually listened to it, would she have felt remorse? Looking back at some of the things she had done, she _did_ feel remorse. And if she felt remorse…that meant that what she had done was wrong.

That was just one of the many things she hated him for: the fact that he was making her feel guilty for things she'd never regretted before.

She also hated him for the faith he had in her, for the nearly endless, unwavering belief that there was some good in her, that she was honorable and trustworthy. The look of faith and trust that he always turned towards her had quickly turned to one of shock and betrayal when she stabbed him…the expression on his face had haunted her nightmares ever since that experience on her master's ship. She hated that he thought her trustworthy, because she did not. Karai admired Leonardo for his values, for his truthfulness and honor; but she also hated him for it. Those morals were what were tearing her apart.

_How things have changed_, she mused to herself as she stared out her window at the streets below. _Before, I did not wish him harm. I could not bring myself to harm him_. She glanced at the desk beside her, her eyes narrowing as she stroked a gentle finger down the blade of the Shredder's gauntlet. _And now…now I wish to kill him. Now I think only of finding him and inflicting upon him and his loved ones the pain I have felt. Now, all I can think about is him…and making him suffer as I have suffered._ Her thoughts circled and circled, anger building on pain, until finally she cried out, whirling and slicing open a nearby tapestry with the claws.

"Why?! In the name of all the gods, why?" The words poured out of her furiously, her voice sharpening nearly to a shriek. "Why is this happening? Why did I meet him? Why does he affect me like this? Why can't I kill him?"

"Why do I love him?!"

Karai froze, one hand flying up to her mouth. She began to panic, her breath coming faster and faster as her eyes darted around the room. _No…oh no, this cannot happen…I did not just **say** that. Father—he will be so **angry**!!!_

That thought immediately snapped her out of her frenzy. _Father **would** be angry…if he was even here._ Her eyes narrowed._ But he isn't. Father cannot hear me…because of Leonardo. It's because of him that my father is gone. _Anger and panic battled in her chest, fanning each other to a blaze. She breathed deeply, calming herself and tamping the fire down until she could think again. _I cannot have such thoughts. There is nothing between us, and even if—even **if** I wanted there to be, there never **could** be; there is too much blood to be washed away. _Karai once again shoved aside her emotions, lining up the facts carefully._ A leader has no room for doubts and insecurities. Leonardo causes me to doubt myself, my master, and my cause; therefore, he must be eliminated. It will start with April O'Neil. And then—_

_Wait. The rat._ Karai sneered. _How could I have forgotten him? As much as I hate Leonardo, my father hates **his** father._ A wry smirk crossed her lips at the irony. _Like fathers, like son and daughter; hatred fueling a feud that spans two generations._

A quiet voice, the one that often sounded like Leonardo, suddenly spoke up. _A feud that you could end, if only you were willing._

_**No**, _Karai snarled, furiously silencing that voice._ Leonardo must lose his master as I have lost mine. I will finish my father's work and kill him. _She calmed again, stumped by another problem._ But how to draw the rat out of its hole? Wait…perhaps I could let the Turtles lead me to him…let them think they have "rescued" Miss O'Neil, and follow them back…no. Leonardo, at least, will sense something and know they are being followed. Perhaps tracking devices…?_

The idea stuck in her thoughts, prodding her to dial a quick number on the intercom resting on her desk. A few seconds of static passed, and then a bright voice came over the speaker.

"No, no, no, no! I said I needed three sheets of the synthetic alloy _per robot_, not total! Oh man, this is gonna set me way back! I can't believe—"

"Dr. Chaplin."

"Whoa! What the—oh, right the intercom! Hey, Mistress Karai, what's up?"

"I need your assistance. Do you have any sorts of tracking devices?"

"Do I?! You better believe it! I've got heat-seeking guidance, I've got motion sensors, I've got—"

Karai interrupted, cutting off his enthusiastic rambling. "I meant in the way of portable tracking, Chaplin. Bugs, if you will."

"Oh, you betcha! I've got bugs that you attach only on the surface, I've got ones custom-made for surgical implantation, what's your poison?"

"I believe the surface bugs will suffice."

"No problem!" A moment of rustling was heard, and then Chaplin's boyish voice sounded through the speaker again, his tone colored with concern. "Hey, you sound kinda upset, Mistress. Anything I can help with?"

"No, I don't think—" She closed her mouth, quickly changing her mind. "Yes, Chaplin, I believe there is. I would like your opinion on something."

"Fire away!"

Karai smothered a small smile. She sincerely enjoyed the young doctor's personality for the life it brought to the building; it was even enough to balance out the embarrassing crush he still had for her. It was refreshing to see someone so energetic, naïve though he may be. "Very well. I plan to lure the Turtles out by threatening their friend, Miss O'Neil, but I need them to lead me back to their rat master as well. All but one of them, that is; I will handle Leonardo. But I need some way to plant these bugs of yours on his brothers."

"Boy, are you in luck, Mistress! I just whipped up something the other day, a new kind of sedative for those stars you guys like throwing! I'd love to be able to test it!"

"That sounds excellent, Chaplin."

"Really?" Karai could almost hear the young man's smile over the phone. "Thanks, Karai! I mean, Mistress Karai. Hey, if you don't mind, I've got an idea I could suggest to really make this plan work out awesome."

"Certainly. I'd love to hear it."

"Great! Okay, so here's what we'd do. We get those guys out like you said, and then when they come up, we'll have them meet us somewhere to get that lady back. And then pow! We can hit 'em with a couple darts tipped in this new stuff I've got, and they're out for half an hour easy. Then you can take that one guy—what's his name?"

Karai's eyes narrowed. "Leonardo," she bit out.

"Right, that's the one. Anyways, you'll take him off and show him who's boss, and then we can get these bugs you wanted tagged onto his brothers."

She tilted her head to the side, quickly thinking over the plan and catching a flaw. "But they will go looking for him; they operate almost flawlessly as a team, and if their brother is taken, they will not return to their stronghold without him."

"Oh, really? Bummer. Alright, gimme a second, I'll think of something."

Karai could hear a chorus of rustling and muttering, smiling slightly as she heard the young man talking to himself.

"I've got it! Here's what I'm thinking—it's really cool, and I'm totally sure it'll work; I saw it on this wicked cool movie one time. Okay, so that rat guy's kinda like their dad, right?"

"Yes, he is."

"Great. Okay, so we get everyone knocked out and bugged, and then you take that Leo guy off. Now for the rest of them, I know those guys carry around this super-cool version of a cell phone—I'd love to figure out how they got the frequency set on those, it's really pretty ingenious—"

"Chaplin."

"Right, sorry! Anyways, we use one of those to call their dad—I'm totally sure I can figure out how to use one, so no sweat about that—and we tell him that we've got his sons and that he has to come meet us. And we'll also tell him that we've got that one turtle-guy, Leo, in another place, and that if the rat guy, Sliver—"

"Splinter," Karai corrected.

"Is that what it is? Weird name. So like I was saying, we'll tell him that if he doesn't take the other three guys and leave, we'll kill the Leo guy. Like having a hostage, that's what they did in that movie I was talking about. That way, you'll be free from having his brothers interfere in your fight, and they'll lead us right to their hideout! And bingo, game over!"

Karai stared at the intercom, her mind buzzing with pleasant shock. "Chaplin, that is brilliant."

"Seriously?! Great, I'm glad I could help! I'll get to work on that stuff right away, Mistress! Oh, and one more thing?"

"Yes?"

"I just wanna wish you luck with that Leo guy. I know he's why things didn't work out for the big guy; that really sucked. So good luck! Not that you need it, but—"

"Thank you, Chaplin," Karai interrupted, a sad smile tugging at her lips. "You have been of immeasurable assistance."

"No problem, my lady. You just call anytime you need anything. See ya!"

Karai ended the connection, carefully thinking about Chaplin's plan, expecting more problems to appear; and yet, the more she thought about it, the more it seemed flawless.

_The Turtles will not risk their friend's safety, so they will assuredly come. And the rat will not risk three of his sons' lives for one, especially when they are helpless, so he will take them back to their home. This will fall together, and they will be destroyed, all because of their own actions. This plan cannot fail._

_All that is left is to put this into motion._

With a swift, graceful motion, Karai lunged to her feet, firmly gripping the claws on her wrist. A few strides later she was at the entrance to her chambers, throwing aside the door and revealing the startled Foot ninja there.

"You!" She snapped out, pointing at him with the claws.

The eye holes in the ninja's uniform widened even further, fear emanating off of him. "Y…yes, Mistress Karai?"

"Summon everyone. I want all Foot members to meet me in the usual place, in my father's chamber. _Everyone_ is to be there, do you understand? You have ten minutes."

"Yes, Mistress," the ninja replied, bowing low. He hesitated for a moment, then spoke again. "Mistress, if I may be so bold, what are we gathering for?"

Karai snarled and struck out with the claws on her hand, raking two shallow cuts along the Foot ninja's chest. Blood immediately began trickling along the fabric.

"You may _not_ be so bold as to question me," she hissed, gripping the man's uniform and jerking him closer. "It is not your place."

"Yes, M-Mistress Karai. O…of course. I was wrong, it was not my place. Please f-forgive me," the man stammered, attempting to bow with his shirt still in Karai's grip.

"Silence! Go now, and do as you were told!"

"_Hai!_"

The man was off like a shot as soon as Karai released him. He had scarcely made it down the hall before she stopped him.

"Wait!"

He cringed and slowly turned around. "Yes, Mistress?" he asked carefully.

Karai stood silently in the doorway, fingering the bloody claws on her hand. "You were wrong to question me, but I will answer you nonetheless." She raised her eyes, anger smoldering in their depths.

"We are going on the hunt. The feud between us and the Turtles ends now."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The men were quickly assembled, and the announcement delivered. And to Karai's surprise, the men openly accepted the plan; the inactivity was once again bothering them, and they were far too prideful to consider this plan failing like the last one had. Karai ended her speech and sent the men off to train again, then called two of the Foot Tech ninjas to her.

The pair knelt before her. "Yes, Mistress Karai?"

"I wish to have any footage of past fights with the Turtles delivered to my chambers, as well as the footage from when Leonardo invaded the library. I expect it immediately."

Another pair of bows, and they were gone.

Karai dismissed the Elite and headed back to her chambers, thinking the plan over again and working out the last details.

_We shall collect the woman tomorrow evening, and deliver a note for the Turtles to find. And then the night after that…they will all come running right to me. I shall have Chaplin and the Foot Techs determine the location of the Turtles' hiding spot once their rat master has collected them, and I shall deal with Leonardo…_

A frown found its way onto her face as a tiny flicker of doubt flitted across her mind.

_What if you lose?_

_I will not._

_You lost last time. He defeated you and could have killed you. There is no way he will give you such a chance this time; he will kill you. What is there to stop him?_

_Things will be different this time_, Karai assured herself. She remembered Leonardo's words well; she would not go into this battle consumed by rage. Let _him_ be the one at a disadvantage, as he raged over his family's capture. And she would make good use of the tapes the Techs were bringing her; she would spend her time well, watching the footage and learning the new techniques Leonardo was using. She would not be caught unaware again.

Satisfied that she had dealt with the possible flaws, Karai allowed herself a small smile. Reaching her desk, she sat down and reverently fixed the bladed gauntlet onto her hand. Her eyes lost their focus as she continued going over her plan, and her thoughts turned to her enemies. She could all but taste the satisfaction of destroying Leonardo, then forcing him to watch his family die.

"The end is coming, Leonardo. Can you sense it? Can you sense that I am coming for you?" Karai smiled and gently stroked the blades on her wrist. "Because I am, Leonardo. I am coming for you, and when I find you, I will kill you. But before I do, I will make sure you know that I will slaughter your family." Anger and pain darkened her face. "I will see you die with the knowledge that you will no longer be able to protect your family ever again. In your last moments, I will make sure that you suffer as I have suffered."

"The end is coming, Leonardo; can you feel it?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Back-fist strike, again! And _hajime_!"

_Almost done._ Raph inhaled deeply, concentrating as he froze in the current position of the last kata they were practicing. Evening training was nearly done, and he'd done well today. He and his brothers held their poses as Splinter scrutinized their forms, making small adjustments here and there.

"Michelangelo, mind the angle of your right arm…" Splinter said, nodding as the orange-banded turtle made the correction. "Good, Raphael…you as well, Donatello. Leonardo, your left leg…Leonardo?"

Raph turned his head slightly to the side, watching Leo like his other brothers. Leo had been slightly off today, not performing up to his normal standards. _It ain't like 'im,_ Raph mused. _Normally Sensei never has to correct him, an' this is like what, the third time?_

Leo looked up abruptly, obviously distracted. "Yes, Sensei?"

Splinter inclined his head slightly at Leo's feet. "This is the fourth series defensive kata, my son, and the stance…" he trailed off suggestively.

A slight hint of blush darkened Leo's cheeks as he shifted his leg. "The stance is a zenkutsu dachi, not a kiba dachi. Sorry, Master Splinter."

The master nodded, accepting the apology. "Now, all of you, once more. First stance, _ichi!"_

Raph pulled his concentration back to the kata, moving into a front stance and whipping his fist down in a low strike, thinking through the movements.

"_Ni!"_

Back flip, high block, split kick.

"_San!"_

Forward roll, surge up to a deep front stance, roundhouse kick.

"_Shi!"_

Drop to the floor on both hands, spin kick, leap back up, and hammer fist.

"_Go!"_

Back flip once more, low block and high strike.

"And _yame_."

Stand at attention, bow…and collapse on the floor.

Raph groaned and flopped backward onto his shell, wiping sweat off his face. The training session had been exhausting, and all four turtles were breathing hard. None of them had said anything, even after Splinter announced that they would be training for an additional half an hour; they all knew why he had stepped up the intensity. Leo's dream had concerned Splinter, especially considering the safety of his sons, and he was determined to prepare them as much as possible.

Splinter shook his head at his sons' reactions, but smiled slightly. "This was a good practice, my sons. I will see you again tomorrow morning."

A quiet groan crept out of Raph's throat. _Great,_ he growled to himself. _More katas_.

The old master raised an eyebrow, his expression humored. "And for those who are concerned," he said, glancing at Raph pointedly, "there will not be any more katas; tomorrow's sessions shall be largely sparring."

Raph grinned, the expression slightly guilty. "Sounds good to me, Sensei."

Mikey's head lifted off the floor marginally. "Aw, no more katas? Bummer."

"Yes, I can sense your disappointment, Michelangelo," Splinter said wryly. "You are dismissed, my sons. I suggest dinner before you break into your own activities."

"Woo!" Mikey flipped to his feet in a flash, dashing out of the kitchen. "Spaghetti, here I come!"

Splinter sighed and shook his head. "That boy makes me tired." Walking out of the dojo, he called back over his shoulder to the three teens behind him. "Please inform your brother that practice tomorrow will start precisely at 7." Unintelligible grunts were his only answer, and he nodded, satisfied. "I will see you all then."

A few minutes passed before any of the turtles made any attempt to move. Don hauled himself to his feet first, groaning as he walked out of the dojo. "There is a couch and an icepack with my name on them. I'll see you guys in the kitchen."

Raph grunted and stood as well. "I'm right behind ya, Don. Save me a couch cushion." Flexing his sore arms and shoulders, he followed Don out. Halfway to the kitchen he stopped. "Hey, where's Leo?"

Don shrugged. "Still in there, isn't he?"

"I dunno. I guess he must be. Gimme a sec, I'll go get him." Raph headed back to the dojo. A few steps from the door he heard the familiar sound of metal slicing through the air, and shook his head in disbelief. "You have _got_ to be kiddin' me," he muttered, pushing open the door. It opened slowly, revealing Leo working through yet another kata.

"Bro, you have got some serious issues," Raph announced. "Didja miss the part where Sensei said 'practice is over'?"

"I know it's over, Raph," Leo replied tersely, turning his back to his brother as he moved through the kata.

"Great. Then why're ya still in here?"

"I needed some time to—I just needed some time."

Raph sighed and walked over to his brother. Moving quickly, he snatched Leo's swords from his grip, then swept his legs out from underneath him, sending him to the floor.

Leo's breath flew out of him as he landed on his back. He coughed, trying to get his wind back and glaring at his brother as Raph sat down beside him. "What—the shell—was that for?" he demanded.

"_That_ was for yer own good, shell-fer-brains. I don't care how good'a shape yer in; we've been practicin' for almost two hours. Even _you_ could use a break."

"I don't want a break."

"Well, ya look like shell, so obviously you need one," Raph drawled, glancing at the bags under Leo's eyes. "When was the last time you slept, bro?"

"…Yesterday morning."

Raph just stared at his brother. "You've had two hours of sleep in two days? That's _it_?!"

"Sleeping hasn't exactly been restful for me lately, if you hadn't noticed," Leo snapped.

"So ya just decided to give up on it all together?"

"What else am I supposed to do?!" Leo shouted, his temper snapping. "You want me to go to sleep? Go and be trapped in that stupid premonition _again_? Why? I already know what happens! April gets captured because of us, we go to find her, we get ambushed, I fight Karai, and someone _dies_. And there's nothing I can do about _any_ of that! It's a premonition; it can't be avoided. It's going to happen soon anyway, right? Tell me why I need to go through that again any earlier than I have to!"

Raph gaped at his brother, speechless. Leo was shaking with emotion and fatigue, angry tears gathering in his eyes. "Leo—"

Leo looked away, blinking quickly. "Just—just go, Raph. Just get out of here," he said quietly, picking up his swords.

"I—" Raph faltered, watching as Leo turned his back on him, beginning another kata. He nodded slowly, standing and walking out of the room. "Yeah. Okay."

He made it to the kitchen before he collapsed in a chair, burying his head in his hands. A soft voice reached his ears.

"What was that all about?"

Raph glanced up to see Mikey standing beside him, holding two plates of spaghetti. The red-banded turtle smiled slightly and pushed out a chair for his brother, accepting the offered plate. He stared at the spaghetti, then sighed. "It's Leo."

"Turtle of the hour," Mikey joked gently.

"Yer tellin' me." Another sigh escaped Raph's lips. "He's gonna lose it completely before this shit even hits the fan."

Mikey frowned, his brow etched with concern. "What are you talking about, Raph?"

"I'm talkin' about what just happened," Raph said, pushing his spaghetti around on his plate before meeting Mikey's eyes. "This premonition thing is drivin' Leo nuts. Instead'a takin' a break after two hours of practice he's still in there goin' at it 'cause "he needs some time"."

"That's how Leo deals with things," a new voice pointed out quietly.

Raph turned to see Don come into the kitchen and join them at the table. Mikey stood wordlessly and grabbed another plate, sliding the food over to his purple-clad brother.

"You and Leo both handle things that way," Don continued as the three of them dug into their dinner, "working things out physically if meditation doesn't work."

"Except _I_ still believe in sleep," Raph retorted.

Don's brows dropped rapidly. "Excuse me?"

Raph jerked his thumb in the direction of the dojo. "Turns out Fearless hasn't slept since the two hours he got yesterday mornin' before comin' down here and, surprise surprise, workin' out. And I get the sinking feelin' that he ain't plannin' on hittin' the hay tonight either."

"Geez…" Don held his face in one hand. "He's refusing to sleep because of his premonition, isn't he," he muttered, the phrase more statement than question.

"You got it."

Don sighed in exasperation. "He's going to burn out before anything even happens. The moon won't be full for another two days, and he's essentially gone three days already. A body can only go so long without sleeping. There's no way he can make it with no sleep and still expect to face—whatever it is that's coming."

"Doesn't mean he won't try it," Raph snorted.

The purple-banded turtle groaned. "Isn't he supposed to be the sensible, responsible one?"

Raph smirked slightly. "Depends on the day of the week for the sensible part."

"So what're we gonna do?" Mikey asked.

Don shrugged. "Find a heavy, blunt object and beat him over the head with it?"

A grin crept onto Mikey's face. "What, you mean like Raph?"

_Smack!_

"Oww!" Mikey complained, rubbing the back of his head. "Fine, I was just trying to help."

Silence took over the kitchen again as the three turtles tried to figure out a way to help their brother.

"Should we try Master Splinter?" Don suggested.

Raph shook his head. "Nah. I don't think Leo would even listen to Sensei fer somethin' like this. Plus Sensei's prob'ly not gonna _make_ Leo go to sleep."

"We could drug him," Mikey joked, covering his head with a grin as he waited for another swat.

Raph and Don were silent, considering looks on their faces as they glanced at each other.

Mikey gulped nervously. "Guys…I was joking…"

Don sighed. "I know you were, Mikey. It's just that…this isn't healthy. This—what's going to happen…we're _all_ going to need to be ready. And if Leo won't let this go—"

"How am I supposed to let this go?"

All three turtles' heads whipped around at the quietly angry words, guilt gnawing at them as they saw their oldest brother.

Leo was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, his expression tired and angry. His hands shook slightly, though he didn't seem to notice.

"How am I supposed to let this go?" he repeated, a note of desperation coloring his voice. "How do I ignore something like this? How am I supposed to handle this, knowing that we're going to be attacked and that someone is going to be killed? Knowing that there's nothing I can do about it? Would you like to tell me exactly how I'm supposed to let that go?"

Don made an attempt to stand. "Leo—"

"No." Leo slashed his hand downwards, cutting off his brother. "I know what you're going to tell me. "Calm down, Leo. Just try and forget about it, Leo." Don't you think I want to? Do you think I _want_ to remember this?" Leo's voice trembled. "Do you think I honestly _want_ to see those images every single time I close my eyes? The premonition doesn't even come anymore, but I still can't stop seeing these things. Do you think I _want_ to be afraid to sleep, or even just meditate? I don't, but I am, because I know that _vision_ will be there _every single time_."

His brothers were silent, unsure of what to say, while Leo stood in the doorway, shaking.

Don stood and walked over to his oldest brother, placing a gentle hand on Leo's shoulder and turning him around. He walked Leo out of the kitchen and into his lab. Raph and Mikey could hear quiet murmuring, and Don and Leo emerged after a couple minutes. They walked up the stairs and disappeared into Leo's room, and after another few minutes Don came back downstairs alone.

No one spoke as Don walked into the kitchen, pausing in the doorway. He spoke quietly, not looking at his brothers.

"I gave Leo some sleeping pills. He ought to be out until sometime tomorrow morning."

There was silence as this was processed, and then Raph glanced up at his brother.

"Will he have any dreams?"

Don shook his head. "Hopefully not. Sleeping pills induce a deeper sleep than that of the REM cycle, which is the level at which dreams normally occur."

"But this isn't a dream," Mikey protested, confused.

"You're right, it's not," Don agreed tiredly. "But Leo said he hasn't had the actual premonition since he told us about it."

Raph frowned. "Then what's been messin' him up this bad?"

"A form of mental reruns, probably," the purple-banded turtle replied. "Do you guys remember how things were for all of us after what happened in the Volpehart building? We all had nightmares for a while because of what we saw. Really disturbing images or experiences like that are hard for a mind to get over, so it kind of keeps replaying them in order to try and deal with the memory or situation. And for Leo, especially with the over-protectiveness he's got…this is just really difficult for him."

"So what do we do now?" Raph asked.

"Now we plan as much as we can while we have the time," Don answered, meeting his brother's eyes. "Given what Leo told us, Mikey and I managed to narrow down the location to about five or six buildings. Once Leo wakes up tomorrow we're going to take him out and get a positive confirmation of the location. In the meantime, I'm working on a couple different things."

Mikey's eyes lit up. "What kind of things?"

Don narrowed his eyes at his brother. "Nothing for you to play with. We know that April's going to be involved in this, so I'm developing some smoke bombs that can be activated via remote. We can set them up on the roof when we figure out where everything is going to be taking place, and that way we can hopefully buy a few seconds in order to get April the shell out of there."

Raph smirked. "And what about us?"

The purple-banded turtle snorted. "Yeah. And hopefully us too. But knowing our history with luck…I wouldn't bet on anything."

All three turtles fell silent, until Mikey spoke up.

"Guys…are we going to die?"

Don looked at his brother his expression solemn. "I hope not, Mikey. Leo said that in his premonition…someone _does_ die. He just…doesn't know who."

Raph cleared his throat in discomfort, unwilling to linger on the question. "Alright. Don, you said yer gonna work on those smoke bombs, right? What do you want us ta do?"

"Mikey, I need you to call April. Fill her in; let her know about everything that's going on. I'd rather she wasn't involved in this at all, but since she is, she needs the warning. Raph, I want you to get a hold of Casey. We could definitely use his help in getting April out of there."

The two turtles nodded. "You got it, Don."

Don headed to his lab while Mikey made a beeline for the couch and the phone, still carrying his plate of spaghetti. Raph quickly went upstairs, heading for his room in search of his Shell Cell. On his way, he passed Leo's room and halted suddenly; the door was slightly ajar. Raph carefully pushed it open a few inches further and leaned against the doorjamb, checking on his brother.

Leo was lying on his side, facing the door, arms and legs curled inwards slightly. Raph grinned slightly; normally he'd take the opportunity to make fun of Leo for sleeping in the fetal position, but at the moment he was just glad Leo was sleeping at all.

Raph studied his brother. Leo's face still bore signs of exhaustion, both in the paleness of his skin and the tightness of the worry lines along his brow. The hothead sighed, the smile replaced by a contemplative frown.

_I dunno why, bro, but it always seems ta be you, doesn't it? The one ta get hurt, the one that has to figure out what to do when crap like this comes up. You always seem ta be standin' alone against that kinda thing, and I don't think I've ever heard ya complain about it till now, and that's only 'cause yer at the end of yer rope._ Raph shook his head and backed silently out of the room, closing the door gently behind him. He laid a hand on the door, his thoughts on his brother.

_Maybe one of these days you'll finally realize that we're all right here, and that ya ain't always gotta face everythin' alone. That's what yer always tellin' us, 'cept you seem to think that the support doesn't apply to you, just everyone else. We're all in this together, bro. That's what a team is._

_That's what a family is._

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Leo woke slowly, trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes. He rolled over to face his bedside table and looked at the clock.

11:48.

"What?!"

Leo flailed and all but fell out of bed, grabbing the clock again and rubbing his eyes, trying to see if he'd just read the time wrong. But no, the little green numbers still displayed the same time.

The blue-banded turtle groaned. _Why…no, **how** the shell did I sleep this late? Especially without any dreams—_

_Without any dreams._

The realization suddenly hit him that he hadn't suffered through his premonition last night, and for a moment that fact eased the dismay of sleeping through breakfast, morning practice, and nearly lunch.

Only for a moment, though; then he was up and hurriedly climbing into his gear.

_Shell, this'll be fun to explain to Sensei. Not to mention the crap I'm gonna get from Raph, Mikey and Don. If it's not one thing, it's—_

The scenes of the past day suddenly clicked into his head. Yesterday evening, staying after practice.

Raph getting on his case, the two of them yelling at each other again.

Hearing his brothers in the kitchen, walking in to find them talking about him.

Don taking him to his lab, and giving him—

Sleeping pills.

Leo shook his head as the fog fully cleared out of his memory. _How on earth did I forget that?_

After he'd blown up at his brothers last night, an event that now brought heat to his face, Don had pulled him into the lab and quietly asked him if he'd like some help sleeping. Leo had been at the end of his rope and agreed.

_Of course, he never said anything about sleeping for twelve hours straight,_ Leo grumbled to himself. Tying his bandana on firmly, he reached for the door and paused. Part of him wanted to just stay in his room, to just ignore what was going on and hide in bed until it went away. _If only it was that easy…_

Shaking his thoughts aside, he opened the door and padded out into the main part of the Lair, intending to look for his family in the dojo or the TV room. Hearing a series of bangs and arguing from the kitchen, he changed course, grinning at what sounded like a war over lunch.

He paused in the doorway, seeing his brothers all hunched over and peering in the refrigerator.

"Mikey, there's no way we're having that for lunch."

"Aw, c'mon, Don, why not?"

"'Cause you always put the freakiest, nastiest crap on pizza when ya get a hold of it, an' 'cause none of us remember how old it is."

"Don't be such a sissy, Raph. It's just pizza with marshmallows and chocolate sauce. It can't be that bad."

"With how loud you guys are, it's no wonder I need drugs just to sleep," Leo interjected mildly, his tone joking.

Three heads shot up at his sudden words, all of them slamming on the top shelf of the fridge with a chorus of swearing.

"Leo!" Mikey grinned, wincing as he rubbed his head. "Feelin' better?"

"Much," Leo smiled back. He glanced over at Don. "Thanks."

Don smiled, holding a small lump on his forehead. "Anytime."

"Hey, Leo, get over here," Raph called, motioning to the refrigerator.

"What?"

"D'you remember how old this pizza is?" Raph asked, gesturing at the slices sitting on a plate. "We're tryin' ta figure out if it's still safe ta eat."

Leo stared at his brother. "You can't remember and yet you're _still_ actually considering it?"

"Yeah, so?"

The blue-banded turtle shook his head. "Alright, let me see it." Raph moved aside, and Leo peered into the fridge. A couple seconds later he pulled back, looking rather disturbed. "Guys, that pizza is from about a week and a half ago."

Raph and Mikey glanced at each other. "That doesn't sound that bad," Mikey commented, shrugging. "Besides, marshmallows and chocolate sauce don't exactly go bad really fast."

"Except that a week and a half ago the toppings were barbeque sauce and jalapenos."

All three of the younger turtles turned even greener than usual.

"Alright, now that's just nasty," Raph muttered, backing away from the fridge.

Don shook his head and grabbed a trash bag and an oven mitt. Keeping his distance as much as possible, he carefully threw the pizza away, then washed his hands off furiously. "That is just sad. I've grown less revolting things in Petri dishes than the stuff that somehow manages to mutate in our refrigerator."

"Well, how about sandwiches instead?" Leo suggested. "They ought to be fairly safe."

All four glanced at the contents of the lunchmeat drawer.

"So it's time to play 'guess that lunchmeat'?" Mikey asked.

The turtles fell silent, then looked over at the elevator as the doors suddenly opened.

Casey stepped out with his arms full of pizza boxes and cans of pop. "Hey guys, Raph told me to come over, so I figured I'd bring some chow too. Didn't think ya'd mind."

Mikey cheered and ran for the proffered food. "We're saved!"

Don was right on his heels. "Michelangelo, you aren't touching any of that until we get at least one box of _normal_ pizza."

Leo shook his head as he and Raph followed their brothers. "What'd you tell Casey to come over for?" he asked.

Raph glanced at his brother. "War council," he said, his tone joking. "We're fillin' him in on what's goin' on, an' then we're all goin' out tonight to scope things out."

"And then tomorrow night the moon is full," Leo said softly.

The red-banded turtle nodded seriously.

"And then it's show time."

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"Casey, will you please try to keep up?" Don asked, looking behind him.

The man threw a dirty look at the turtle speaking. "'scuse me fer not…runnin' around rooftops in my spare time."

"How else would you get around?" Mikey joked. "Only losers drive cars."

The five of them traveled quickly, making their way to the area that Don and Mikey had marked off.

"Alright, we've got it narrowed down to there few rooftops," Don said. "Keep an eye—aw shell. Hold up guys, these smoke bombs are rattling around too much, I need to rearrange them." He slowed to a stop, unzipping the bag he carried.

"Geez, Don, weren't ya th'one who packed 'em?" Casey asked wryly. "Yer holdin' everybody up."

"Shut it, Casey." Don rummaged through the bag, trying to settle the contents. He turned his head slightly, talking over his shoulder. "Hey Leo, let me know if you see your rooftop, okay? These ones coming up ought to be—"

Raph's voice suddenly rang out. "Leo! Hey, Leo, what the hell?!"

Don's head jerked up to see Leo suddenly take off across the rooftops again. He hurriedly finished rearranging the contents of his bag, standing with his brothers. "Where's he going?"

"I think he found his rooftop," Mikey replied as the four of them chased after Leo.

By the time they caught up with Leo, he was frozen in place on top of a building, staring at the rooftop around him.

Don stuck his arms out, keeping his brothers and Casey back. He then pulled out his bo staff and carefully approached Leo.

"Leo? Leo, it's Don. Are you okay bro?"

Leo didn't respond. His eyes darted around the rooftop, his breathing accelerating.

Don reached into a small pouch on his belt and pulled out a handful of powder. He then walked closer to Leo, shifting his bo into an attack-ready position.

"Don," Raph hissed from behind him. "Bro, you sure this is a good idea?"

"No," Don admitted, still walking nearer to his silent, still brother. "But we knew he'd probably freeze up from being out here, and you've already expressed your opinion of being thrown anymore. Someone's got to do it, Raph." He glanced back, half his mouth lifting in a wry grin. "If he throws me off the building, keep Mikey out of my lab."

With that, he whipped his bo at Leo, aiming low at his brother's legs. Leo snapped around in an instant, grabbing the staff and yanking Don closer. As soon as the distance between them had been cut in half, Don threw his handful of powder full in Leo's face.

Leo dropped the staff, coughing furiously and rubbing his eyes. He blinked rapidly, looking around himself in a daze. "What…what's going on?"

Don sheathed his bo with a small smile and carefully tugged Leo back to the rest of the group. "We found your rooftop, and you kind of froze."

"I did?" Leo groaned and palmed his face. "Did I hit Raph again?"

"Not this time," Don chuckled. "That's what those smelling salts were for. Sorry about getting them in your eyes, though."

"That's okay. Thanks for…just thanks, Don."

"It's not a problem, bro. Go with everyone else and wait on that building," Don said, pointing to the building beside them. "I'm going to get these smoke bombs set up and coordinated with the remote and then we'll head back. Just talk to Mikey and try not to worry about anything."

Leo nodded. "Yeah, sounds good." He quickly cleared the space between the two buildings.

Don pulled out his equipment and quickly got to work, positioning the six smoke bombs around the perimeter of the rooftop and programming each one to a different key on the remote for a timed detonation. Ten minutes later he secured the last bomb and stowed his tools. He then stood and made one final check of each bomb.

"Doonn—ieee…" Mikey's whine floated across the rooftops. "Can we _go_ already?"

The purple-banded turtle rolled his eyes and leaped over to join his brothers and Casey. "Patience is a virtue, you know," he informed his younger brother.

"That's nice."

Don shook his head and walked off. "Alright, let's get out of here. We're going to be back here soon enough already."

The five of them quickly set off across the rooftops, and Don found himself shooting a last glance back at the building they'd just left behind. Shutting his eyes for a second, he made a quick wish.

_Please let all of us leave here alive next time, too…_

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Leo sighed, trying to keep his frustration under control. After a couple of days of vigorous physical training, Master Splinter was now working with them on meditation, seeking to prepare them mentally and spiritually as well. They were working with water meditation; each one of them had a bowl, and would seek to calm their bodies and minds together. As their bodies' tenseness stopped shaking the bowl and causing the water to ripple, their minds would relax as well. Unfortunately, Leo was finding it nearly impossible to clear his mind. Instead of each thought and worry disappearing like the water ripples, they seemed to keep multiplying. Tonight was the first night of the full moon, and Leo had been on edge all day. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't seem to calm himself, and he could easily tell that his brothers were almost as tense as he was; he'd felt their eyes on him all day long.

He shook his head again and took another deep breath, determined to get himself to focus.

_Calmness…serenity…tranquility…_ Leo thought to himself. _Take these qualities from the water into your own being. Send each thought, care and worry away on the lessening ripples…_

Leo tried again to push all thought away when a sudden force flared up in his mind, the taste of a warning ricocheting around his consciousness. His eyes shot open, the bowl slipping from his fingers, water spilling over the sides.

"April…" he whispered. He turned and bolted out of the dojo, making it halfway to door of the Lair before his bowl even hit the ground.

He could hear his brothers scrambling behind him, shouting for him to wait, but he couldn't stop. The warning in his mind was like electricity; it spat along every nerve and mixed with the anxiety still lingering from his premonitions, pushing him even faster. He could feel guilt begin to churn with the worry sitting heavily in his gut, both increasing at the thought of April.

_I guess my premonition was right…April's in trouble. I can't believe I never even considered it coming to this before now,_ he thought to himself angrily. _Our lifestyle, our enemies…we don't have room for friends. I should have expected that our problems would eventually endanger them._

Leo pushed the thoughts aside as he flew up the nearest ladder, trying to put all of his energy into moving faster. In a second he was out on the street; another breath saw him leaping up a fire escape, and then he was on the roofs and flying again. Three flickers gently brushed his mind, and suddenly his brothers were right there, soaring across the rooftops right along with him.

Raph pulled alongside him, breathing furiously. "Damn, bro, you been drinkin' jet fuel or somethin'?"

"She's in trouble, Raph," Leo said tightly, worry constricting his throat.

"I know, bro. That's why we're all out here."

"It's my fault. I should have realized before now that we were a threat to her safety. The Foot found out where she lived once before; I should have known they'd probably still be watching her."

Raph shook his head. "It ain't yer fault, Leo. They haven't gone after April or Case before; we didn't have a reason ta think that they ever would."

"We still should have—"

"Shoulda, woulda, coulda, bro; none'a that helps us now."

"I know," Leo replied, his breath tight in his lungs. "I just hope we get the chance to correct that mistake."

The four of them flew along at the breakneck speed Leo had set, making the ten minute trip to April's apartment in merely six. Leo halted at last, then jumped down to the fire escape landing that lay right below April's kitchen window, swearing when he saw the window already open. He crept into the apartment quietly, landing inside with hardly a sound. A split second later he drew his katana, the hissing, shivery ring of the metal failing to comfort him. A series of small noises behind him alerted him to his brothers' entrances. Leo shot a glance back at them, then carefully proceeded into the apartment. No more than three steps into the living room, the glimmer of light on steel grabbed his attention. A small knife was planted in the wall, firmly securing a leaf of paper that fluttered in the breezy room.

_Dammit…_Leo sheathed his katana angrily. The lone note and the sheer silence of the apartment easily confirmed what he feared…

"We're too late," Raph said lowly, coming up to stand beside Leo. "Those pieces of shit—"

Leo didn't answer, but moved forward and pulled the knife out of the wall, catching the freed paper. He glanced down at the hilt of the knife and glared at the Foot insignia, as well as the kanji carved beneath it.

Don stepped up beside his brothers, narrowing his eyes at the blade. "That's Hun's, isn't it?"

Mikey peered over Leo's shoulder and shuddered, rubbing at a slight scar on his left bicep. "Yeah, that's the one, trust me; me and my arm recognize it."

Leo nodded and carefully stowed the weapon in his belt. He remembered the blade as well. Hun had surprised all of them by started to carry the weapon with him since the behemoth normally fought with his bare hands; it ended up giving Hun another advantage that, in the Turtles' opinion, the man didn't need. "We'll make sure we return it to him," Leo said darkly.

"What's the note say?" Raph asked.

"Nothing we don't already know," Leo murmured softly before he read the note out loud.

_Turtles,_

_Miss O'Neil is in our possession. If you wish to see her again, you will come to the top of the abandoned apartment building on Fifth Street tomorrow evening at 8 o'clock. All four of you, and only the four of you, will be there, or she dies._

_Oroku Karai_

Silence filled the apartment, worry pressing hard on all of them.

"Well, that's it, then," Leo said impassively, stowing the letter in his belt and making his way back to the window. "Let's go."

Don's face was full of confusion. "What? Leo, what about April? We can't just—"

"We're not going to." Leo's voice was steely. "Nothing is going to happen to anyone in this family. We will get her back."

"But—"

A dark green hand landed on Don's shoulder, cutting off his protest. Raph met his younger brother's gaze and shook his head slightly. "Let it go, Don," he murmured, his voice low.

"Let it go? Raph—"

"I know, bro," Raph said quietly. "We're all worried 'bout Ape, but this is hard enough fer Leo as it is. We've got a plan, an' we'll get her back tomorrow. Just…let 'im be fer now."

Don opened his mouth to object again, then sighed and nodded, following his brothers out of the apartment.

The four of them were soon making their way back home, Leo and Raph running side by side again.

Raph glanced at his brother and sighed. The silence was getting to him, and he needed to hear Leo say something, anything, to let him know that his big brother wasn't about to snap. "I guess we know yer vision was definitely right, huh?" A moment later he cringed. _That. Was. REALLY STUPID,_ he berated himself.

"Yeah…and now we're out of time," Leo said softly. The past and present moments of their actions were shifting back and forth, from premonition to reality, and they were starting to disorient him.

"We've done all we could, bro; we've got a plan fer gettin' April outta there, an' we're as ready as we're ever gonna be. 'Sides, time don't wait."

"I know," Leo replied tiredly. "_Ko-in ya no gotoshi_."

Raph furrowed his brow. "What's that one mean again? I know Sensei likes that sayin', just can't remember what it means."

"'Time flies like an arrow'," Leo translated. He sighed, troubled by the truth of the proverb.

"Now we just have to see who the arrow is going to hit."

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**A/N: OMFG, it's done!! Once again, I have been absolutely terrible and taken 3 weeks to update. . I honestly don't know how you guys put up with me. But hopefully, this 31 page monstrosity will make up for the length of time between updates. This was another chapter that sort of went haywire; I totally wasn't expecting how it came out. But it's here now, so yay for that. XD I tried to make everything as clear as possible time-wise, so I hope there's no confusion about that. If there is, just PM me or something and I can try to clear things up. And…yeah. Again, I am really sorry about the delay for this. I've had a majorly huge speech that's been taking up my time, and with how long this turned out, it just kind of took forever to get this up here.**

**I do hope that everyone's in character in this chapter; Chaplin is one I've never really written before, so I hope I did alright with him and his mannerisms. As for Leo and Karai…I really, REALLY hope they're not OOC. I've been trying really hard to keep Leo in character while still showing how this premonition has been affecting him. And with Karai, I think I did alright with her; this was my whole "get-inside-her-head" chapter, like how I interpret things to be for her and how everything has and is affecting her. Please, please, PLEASE tell me how I did with those guys; even if it's "omg, you totally killed all these characters, wtf did you do to them" some feedback would be really appreciated. :D Domo arigato.**

**As you can probably guess, this is the last of the calm, expository chapters; after this all shell breaks loose. :D Things will be really crazy for nearly the rest of the story, but I think you guys will enjoy this. I've put a lot of thought into this story, trying to get inside the characters' (mainly Leo and Karai's) heads, and I hope it pays off. And as you can tell with the scene with Karai, there will be just as much emotional focus as there will be physical focus. So thank you guys SO much for reading, and for putting up with my updating schedule (or really, the lack thereof). So please enjoy this chapter, and please read and review! Thanks and take care. :D**


	5. And so it begins

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Turtles. Je ne possède pas les Tortues. Yo no poseo las Tortugas. Ich besitze die Schildkröten nicht. __私は海ガメを所有していません。_

_XD There. I think that's probably clear enough, ne? Lol._

_Now, before I go any further, I have something to say: THANK YOU!!!!!!!! I got what was absolutely the best, greatest surprise of my life ever; I found out I got six nominations for the FF comp:D :D :D I honestly can't believe I got nominated **once**, let alone six times. So if anyone who nominated me is reading this, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!! Writing is so important to me, and knowing that people like it…it's the best. So thank you soooo much; I can't tell you what a great day I had when I found that out. :D_

_Anyways, now it's time once again for our favorite tradition: me apologizing for being a crappy updater. . You'd think I'd be used to it, but I still can't believe how much crap always seems to come up whenever I'm trying to work on a story. Exams, speeches, finals…bleagh. I know it's college, but still. Anyways, at least it's done, right? . I know, I suck. I'm sorry. But seriously, the next chapter WILL BE UP MUCH SOONER. Yes, capital letters mean that I'm swearing it. :D Honestly, my classes are all over, and then next week is exams (boo!), and then I'm home free! So if all goes well, the next update shouldn't be more than two weeks away. I refuse to do any more "three weeks between updates". It's annoying, and it's totally unfair to you guys. Not to mention, we're at the most action-packed part of the story, and I don't want you guys to kill me for leaving you with a cliffie for three weeks. 'Cause if that happens, I'll be dead, and then I'll never finish the story, and then no one will know what happens! XD_

_As usual, a large amount of thanks must go out to my reviewers for Chapter 4: **skyle, Veriandise, RandomlyInsaneWhitePony, BubblyShell22, **and **999999999.** I really appreciate all of your support, and I'm so glad you like this fic. :D_

_Thanks again for putting up with me, and please enjoy Chapter 5!_

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"Mikey."

"…"

"_Mikey_."

"…nnnggh…"

"Mikey, c'mon, it's time to get up. Get your butt out of bed."

"…Don't wanna."

"Ask me if I care."

"Don't wanna do that either. Go 'way."

"Michelangelo, either get up or I'm sending Raph in here to get you up."

"Bleh…" Mikey craned his head up and around, glaring blearily at the figure in the doorway. "Don, aren't you supposed to be the nice brother?"

"You've gotten to sleep in till 10, there are no blunt objects flying at your head, I have not literally thrown you out of bed, and you are not bruised. That _does_ make me the nice brother. Up. Now."

Mikey groaned and hauled himself out of his bed. Stretching, he yawned and tied on his bandana. "How come Leo didn't do the wake up call? That's normally his gig."

Don sighed. "Yeah, well, he's currently MIA."

"He's what?" Mikey looked over at his brother, confused. "Where'd he go? And _why_? I mean, with today being…today, and everything."

"Mikey, that's probably _why_ he left; he needs some time to just kind of collect himself. And as for where…well, we don't know. He left a note on the table saying that he was going out just for a few hours and that he'd be back before dinner, but he didn't mention where he was going; intentionally, I'm sure."

Mikey blew out a heavy sigh. "So now what?"

Don shrugged. "Now we wait for him to get back. Other than a small training session once Leo gets back, Master Splinter wants us to just kind of…save our energy today. So we're off the hook for the kind of practices we've been having lately."

"Woo!" Mikey promptly grabbed a stack of comic books from his shelf and plopped down onto his bed. "I can totally appreciate that."

"I bet you do," Don said, his tone amused. He shook his head and strode out of the room, throwing a departing wave back at his younger brother. "I'll be in my lab, Sensei's meditating, and Raph's in the living room, just so you know."

"Gotcha."

At the sound of the door closing, Mikey glanced up from the comic in his hands, then dropped the book and sighed. He leaned his head back against the wall, staring at the ceiling.

_This is it. This is the big day, the day where we know, but **don't** know what's gonna happen. The day Leo said someone—someone's gonna die, and we don't know who._ He squeezed his eyes shut and drew his legs to him, clasping his arms around them and resting his forehead on his knees. _So how come we aren't spending that last day together?_

The optimistic side of him that normally held sway protested at the morbid thought. _We don't know that it's gonna be one of us._

_But we're pretty sure it will be. After all, who else would it be? Leo said it was someone really important to him._

…_There is April. They did take her, after all._

Mikey sighed and shook his head, trying to scatter the unpleasant thoughts. Scooting over to his bedside table, he slid open the drawer and reached to the very bottom, pulling out a slightly worn album book.

A small smile lit on Mikey's face as he ran a hand over the cover of the photo album. For as long as he'd been able to, he'd been collecting pictures of the family, namely him and his brothers, so that he'd have an album of his own. Some of the pictures were extra copies that Splinter had given him, and some were ones that he'd taken himself, namely when he'd caught his brothers with the camera unaware. The sheer amount of pictures in it had taken a while to accumulate, but he definitely felt like it was worth it. Settling back on his bed, he opened the cover and started flipping through the dozens of pages. Distant memories occasionally brought a smile to his face as different pictures met his eyes.

_The four of them, age 6, celebrating Don's birthday._

_The day they all received their first bandanas, all four of them looking ready to explode out of pride._

_His ninth birthday, the picture showing him hugging Raph and Leo, who were covered with icing from a failed cake experiment, while Don could be seen covered with foam from trying to wield the fire extinguisher._

_Pictures of the first time they got to use the real weapons in practice…_

_Followed by pictures of the consequent injuries; Mikey with a large bump on his head from his nunchaku, Leo with a slice on his arm from his katana, Don with a sprained ankle after tripping over his bo staff, and Raph with cut fingers from his first attempts at spinning his sai._

_A picture of Klunk when Mikey first got his new pet._

_A picture of their first Lair, their first home, after the Mousers had destroyed it._

_A picture of their second Lair when they first moved in, another once it actually became home, and one after it, too, had been destroyed in Karai's attack._

Then came some of the sneaky pictures that Mikey had taken himself, quick snapshots he'd taken when no one knew he was around and armed with the camera.

_Don sleeping at his computer, his face on the keyboard, and key indentations visible on his cheeks._

_Leo meditating in the dojo, a peaceful, unguarded look on his face for once._

_Raph sleeping on the couch, one hand resting gently on Klunk, who was curled up fast asleep on the hothead's plastron._

_Master Splinter shaking his tea cup at the TV screen as one of his favorite soap operas played._

And finishing off the album were possibly the two most important pictures to Mikey, taken of him and his family by April and given to him as presents…pictures taken once Leo had finally come home from Japan, when Mikey finally got his brother back.

_The four of them all sleeping together peacefully in Leo's room on one of the first nights after he returned from Japan._

_The five of them, the whole family reunited, eating dinner together, Don and Mikey laughing while Master Splinter tried to stop a food fight between Raph and Leo._

Mikey sighed, setting aside the photo album. He lay back again, staring at the ceiling. _Is everything gonna change now?_ He wondered, glancing over at the last two pictures again. _Are those gonna be the last times, the last pictures, of all of us together?_

The thought was too depressing, and Mikey quickly put the album away, then made his way down to the living room.

Just as Don had said, Raph was sitting on the couch, engrossed in a movie, his attention firmly fixed on the screen. Mikey walked over and sat down next to his brother wordlessly, staring ahead at the screen as well.

Raph turned his head to look at his brother, surprised at his quiet entrance. He was about to ask what was wrong when he sensed the worry and turmoil in his youngest brother. The red-banded turtle sighed and shifted slightly, putting his arm around Mikey's shoulders.

Now it was Mikey's turn to be surprised; of all of them, Raph was normally the least likely to show open affection.

"I know yer worried, Mike," Raph said quietly, his gruff voice softer than usual. "We all are. This is a lot different than it normally is; we ain't evah really had any warnin' before, 'specially not as bad as this." His hand tightened on Mikey's shoulder, though he kept his eyes on the TV screen. "But I swear, I won't let anythin' happen. I don't give a shit what Leo saw, I ain't gonna let you, Don or Ape get hurt."

"What about you?" Mikey asked softly. "Leo said someone he cares about dies, and that includes you."

Raph glanced over at his younger brother, a trademark cocky grin flashing across his face. "Don't worry 'bout me, Mikey; like Leo says, I'm way too frickin' stubborn to die an' give him any peace."

"Promise?"

A single, firm nod. "Promise."

"Okay." Mikey scooted a little closer to his older brother, getting farther under the protective, reassuring arm. "What're we watching?"

"'The Italian Job'."

"Cool."

The two turtles fell silent, watching the movie in a quiet moment of closeness. Mikey felt himself smile slightly. Despite knowing that anything still could and probably _would_ happen, Raph's words had helped. His fierce, often violent protectiveness for all those he cared about had always been enough to calm Mikey, no matter what they were heading into.

After all, if anyone could defy Fate, Raph would be the one to try and do it.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Leo made his way through the sewers quietly, rubbing his temples slowly in an attempt to quell the thumping behind his eyes. He'd slept badly last night, understandably, and that combined with his knowledge of today's events were making him a little anxious, to say the least. With all the tension and worry roiling inside his mind, he desperately needed to calm his mind and spirit; however, with everyone else's emotions running high as well, trying to meditate in the Lair would be a waste of time; Mikey would be almost everywhere, trying to be near or with everyone, Don would be tinkering anxiously and constantly double-checking with him for details, and Raph would be wound tighter than a spring, covering his own worry with anger and annoyance as he stalked around ready to blow. All of that, combined with Leo's own frayed nerves, and he'd be better off trying to meditate on Main Street in the middle of rush-hour traffic.

_Hence why I pulled a runner_, Leo mused to himself wryly.

He sighed as he finally reached his destination. The old Y'Lyntian Lair was a shambles, and Leo felt his heart twinge as the sight of their old home. _Our second broken home…_The damage from Karai's attack still remained, though slightly decreased through the Turtles' clean-up efforts. Snippets of distant memories floated past Leo, and he shook his head, pulling himself back to the present. He entered carefully, senses alert for any sound or movement, then relaxed as he felt no danger in the old chamber. Leo made a quick round of the Lair, checking on the weapon and supply caches that they had hidden around the first floor, just in case they ever needed them.

After he'd visited each cache and made mental notes on what might need to be added, he carefully climbed one pile of debris, then jumped the rest of the way to the second level of the Lair. Out of habit he checked all of his brothers' rooms, just glancing at their conditions; despite living in a new home, the path and routine were still familiar. Leo finally came to his own room, and halted in shock.

The door was open.

_How…?_ He was at the door in an instant, and set a hand on the doorknob. A sudden flicker of a familiar spirit met him at the contact, and he dropped his hand with a sigh.

_Master Splinter. I guess he must have stopped here on his way back from April's the other day._

Leo stared at the door, feeling his anger flare up. _Why couldn't he have just stayed out of it?_

The last time Leo had been at the old Lair was after he had returned from Japan. After the family had been reunited and moved safely to the old foundry, and once everyone was asleep, he'd slipped out and went back to the Y'Lyntian Lair. He then spent half an hour in his old room, meditating and letting things go. He'd gathered all the remaining anger, and pain, and hatred that still remained, and he'd pushed them out of him, out into his room. Leo then closed the door tightly, symbolically leaving the past behind him for good.

Leo walked into the room quietly, remembering how he'd felt last time, remembering the emotions he'd released. _It was one thing to forgive myself in Japan…it was another to do so once I was back with my family._

_Especially after learning what Karai had done_.

Despite the healing he'd done in Japan with the Ancient One, coming home to find his home destroyed and his family scattered had torn part of that old wound open again. That was a large part of the reason why Leo felt he'd needed to come here to let things go; that second betrayal from Karai, following so shortly after the one on Shredder's ship, had been a lot to handle. And not being there when his family had been attacked was hard to take; it had begun stirring up that same dark anger again. So he'd come here, and as odd as his actions were, they'd helped; he had finally felt totally at peace, and had made his way back to the foundry, back to his family.

_And now I'm here again_, Leo thought wryly. _Hoping it works as well this time as it did last time…_

Leo shut the door behind him, a difficult task given the structural damage done to the room, and carefully took a seat on the floor. Folding his legs, he took a deep breath and let himself sink into meditation, the act almost as natural as breathing after so many years. Delving into his mind, he easily found the dark cloud of thoughts and concerns bothering him this time, the thoughts flowing past him.

…_haven't done enough, haven't prepared enough…_

…_don't know if April's okay…_

…_Karai won't stop coming after us 'til I'm dead, 'til we're **all** dead…_

…_April and Casey shouldn't be involved…_

…_who's going to die?_

Leo caught himself, pulling out of the influence of his fears, and falling deeper into meditation. Using his mind, he slowly began gathering all of his fears together, pushing the thoughts into a tighter, smaller ball. He met every thought and doubt, discarding each one with firm belief.

_We're as prepared as we can be…_

_April has to be okay; Karai will want to keep her alive…_

_There will be an end to this tonight, one way or another…_

_They'll be fine…_

_I will not let any of my brothers die._

When he finally got the dark mass dissolved into a thin cloud, he took a deep breath, gathering them all together, then exhaled, imagining himself breathing all of the poisonous thoughts out. As the final doubt left him, he opened his eyes with a sigh of relief, coming out of his meditation trance. Leo stood jerkily, grimacing at the pins and needles in his legs, and made his way out of the room. Slipping out quickly, he then struggled to get the door closed once more, once again shutting his dark emotions behind him.

_I won't let my worries and concern consume me again. The Ancient One showed me just how dangerous of an enemy I can be to myself, and we don't need any more enemies just now._

Glancing around, he found a large chunk of mortar and brick lying near the door, and dragged it closer. Pushing it into place with a grunt, he firmly lodged it in front of his old bedroom door, preventing it from being opened again.

Leo stepped back with a sigh, sparing one last look at the door, then turned to leave. He quietly made his way down to the first floor, feeling decidedly more peaceful than he had when he'd first come.

_I guess it really is the best way to do things…forgive and forget…_

Then, as had happened so often over the past few days, Leo's thoughts turned to Karai. A familiar pain throbbed in his chest, his emotions flaring up again, and he chastised himself.

_Just let her go. She needs to stay behind that door, along with everything else. There's nothing for either of you down that road. Not anymore. There hasn't been for a long time. So why do you insist on still trying? She's proven time and time again where her loyalties lie. What made you think it would make any difference if you gave her 'one more chance'? She's thrown all the others away._

A familiar voice answered quietly, the hopelessly optimistic one that, oddly enough, seemed to be located in the same place as that throbbing pain in his chest. _I guess I was just…so naïve. I thought I could change her, save her…_

_You can't save those who don't want to be saved._

_I can't believe that. I won't. If she could just let go of her hate, if she would just realize what kind of a monster Saki truly is, if she—_

"_If, if, if." How can you trust her, how can you hold out hope for her, when her possibility of changing hinges on so many dependencies? Even **if** she did all of those things, do you really think she would change? You can't force her. And she knows what kind of a monster Saki is; you showed her, and the Utrom judging council showed her. And she did not thank you for that knowledge. She hates you for it, for shattering the image of the father she thought she had._

_I know, but…there has to be hope for her._

_There's hope for everyone, but she'll never allow you to act on it._

_I—I should still try…_

_Why do you try so hard to save someone who doesn't want to be saved?_

_Because I know she could be so much more than what she is now._

_That's not the real reason._

Leo froze, a current of fear running through him at the path his thoughts were taking. _Yes, it is. That's the only reason._

_You're lying._

_I'm not—_

_Why else would you help someone so many times, especially when they hate you?_

_She—I just…she is a—friend. Or an ally. Or, she was. I'm not sure what she is to me, but—but that's it._

_Liar._

_I'm not lying!_

_You love her._

Leo fell to his knees, slamming a fist into the floor in frustration and confusion._ I don't. I—I **can't**. She—I can't love her._

_But you do._

_No…no, I don't. Once…once, that might have been true; but not anymore._ Leo sighed, finally admitting his feelings to himself. _Yes, I did—care for her once. But now…_ He raised his head, looking around him at the destruction that used to be his home. _How could I love someone who would do this? Someone who would go so far to hurt me? To hurt my family? She refuses to stop fighting…it's funny, I used to think that was one of her greatest strengths. But she wants to fight a fight that is best let go. I've let it go. I forgave her. That's all I want her to do._

_Forgive and forget?_

…_Forgive, at least. There's too much between us, between our families, for either of us to forget._

_She won't do it. The time when she even **could** is long past._

…_I know. Her hate is too much a part of her now; which is why we are being forced into an end tonight._

_It will not be a happy end. There will be loss either way. You **do** realize that?_

Leo sighed, running a tired hand over his face as he stood. _Yes. I hate it, and I'd do anything, **give** anything to change it, but yes, I know. This cannot end well, only better than the worst._

_Yes. But at least, one way or another, there will be an end tonight._

A mocking smile twisted Leo's mouth. _Small blessings._

Leo pushed his thoughts aside, relieved to feel the weight of his worries falling away. He made his way to the exit of the Lair, casting one last glance backwards, before turning. With one hand trailing across the doorway, he sighed.

_I need to be thankful for the warnings I have, and for what certainty I **do** have. Because it is true…_

_One way or another, it all comes to an end tonight._

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Raph stretched carefully, shutting off the TV. He glanced down at Mikey, who was now sleeping soundly at his side. A small grin pulled at his mouth. _He's kinda like a pet…cuter when he's sleepin'._

"Hey."

The red-banded turtle looked up at the soft greeting. Leo was standing by the couch, looking tired, but much calmer than the last time that Raph had seen him. "Hey. How're ya feelin'?" he asked quietly.

"Better," Leo replied with a ghost of a smile. "I had a few things I just…needed to get off of my chest. And when it's crisis time around here, well…"

"It ain't exactly quiet," Raph finished with a smirk.

Leo looked at Mikey, fast asleep beside Raph, and smiled slightly. "Not normally."

Raph shifted slightly, a twinge of embarrassment flaring up at being caught with his guard down; his arm, however, still stayed firmly around Mikey's shoulders. "Didja need somethin'?"

"Yeah, actually. I wanted to let someone know that I was back, and I wanted to see if you could answer a question for me."

"Depends on the question."

Leo reached for the back of his belt and pulled out Hun's dagger. Dangling it in front of Raph by the blade, he raised an eye ridge in challenge. "Think you can hit a target with this?"

"_Think_ I can?" Raph asked derisively as he carefully removed his arm from around Mikey and stood. "Damn, bro, we both _know_ I can."

The blue-banded turtle smirked and flipped the dagger towards his brother, then motioned with his head towards the dojo. "Prove it."

Raph caught the dagger easily, and the two of them made their way out of the living room. Leo rummaged through the supply closet and pulled out a worn target, set it up at his end of the dojo, and stepped back. Raph threw the dagger in the air and caught it several times, testing the weight and balance of the blade, the sent it flying towards the target.

The dagger sunk deep into the target, landing in the center of the second ring.

"Shit," Raph grumbled, catching the dagger once Leo pulled it free and threw it to him.

"It wasn't exactly a bad shot, Raph," Leo pointed out.

Raph snorted. "I missed the frickin' center of the target. I always hit that sucker." He studied the blade more closely, examining the size of the handle and the serration of the blade. The hothead then flipped and caught the dagger a few more times, then threw again. This time it landed in the ring just outside the center of the target

"That was better."

"Hn. The blade keeps throwin' me off. I'm used ta havin' a straight blade like my sai; this gut-ripper flies differently." Raph threw the dagger straight up in the air, the stood underneath it and watched how it spun.

Leo moved towards him, a sound of protest coming from his throat. "Raph—"

"Keep yer shell on, I need ta see how this thing moves."

"You won't be seeing anything if that lands in your skull."

Raph shot a quick smirk at his brother. "It ain't gonna hit me." With the dagger a mere foot above his head, he stepped to the side and caught the blade by the handle, then glanced at Leo. "Told ya."

Leo sighed, the action full of long-suffering as he rubbed his temples. "It's so good to know that your talent with projectiles hasn't gone to your head."

"'Course it hasn't. I'm as humble as they come." Raph lined himself up in front of the target again, then snapped the dagger towards the target once more.

This time, the blade landed dead center in the middle of the target.

"Finally." Satisfaction flitted over Raph's face in a pleased smile.

"Good, now we know you've got that down," Leo said, handing the blade back again.

Raph snorted. "I got it right once outta three tries. That ain't "havin' it down"."

It took five more times of Raph putting the dagger in the exact same spot in the center of the target for him to be satisfied. He then flipped the dagger back to Leo, looking at his brother questioningly. "So what was all this for? I know ya didn't ask me ta try this sucker just outta curiousity."

Leo sighed as he caught the blade, running his fingers over the Foot insignia on the handle. "You aren't going to like this, but you need to hear it anyway."

Raph rolled his eyes. "Just spit it out, Leo."

Another sigh escaped as Leo finally raised his head to meet Raph's eyes. "Hun's going to be there as well tonight."

The hothead stopped and stared at his brother. "Yer kiddin' me, right?"

"I wish I was."

"Dammit, this just keeps gettin' better and better. What, didja see him in yer premonition?"

Leo shook his head. "No, it's just a feeling. That, and this," he explained, gesturing to the dagger. "If he left his new toy behind, he was one of the ones who kidnapped April, and he wanted us to know that. He'll be there, even if for no other reason than to taunt us."

"So this little target-practice session…" Raph said slowly, his mind flitting through Leo's words. "Ah. So that's what ya meant when you said we'd make sure we "returned" Hun's dagger to 'im."

"Yeah," Leo said quietly, nodding. "With the amount of Foot ninja that are going to be there, as well as Karai…we can't afford them the added bonus of Hun, or of any one of us fighting without even one of our weapons. So I thought that if you were able to hit Hun with this…it might buy us the time we'll need to set off the smoke bombs and get April out of there."

Raph chuckled darkly. "Killin' Hun with his own blade; if that ain't justice, I dunno what is." He glanced at Leo slyly. "You've got a bit of a vindictive streak in ya, bro."

Leo didn't laugh, his eyes falling to the floor again. "I know this isn't right, and I know I shouldn't be asking this of you, but you've got the best aim of any of us. You don't have to—"

A second later the dagger was gone from Leo's grip. Raph shook his head as he spun the dagger in his hand. "Sometimes I jus' don't getcha, Leo. What, ya didn't think I'd be willin' ta do it?"

Leo's eyes were serious. "There's a difference between killing someone in a fight and—killing them like this. If we were to meet him in battle, I'd feel absolutely no remorse over his death, but planning it ahead…"

Raph gripped Leo's arm firmly, holding his brother's gaze. "You ain't doin' anythin' wrong here, Leo. Plannin' ahead like this keeps one of _us_ from gettin' killed instead, which, if ya ask me, is the most important thing. There's a difference between plannin' ta kill an innocent person, an' plannin' ta kill someone like Hun. Besides, this protects us, our family, an' April too; if that don't balance out plannin' Hun's death, I dunno what does. I'm more than fine takin' this on, so don't worry about it. Don't let it bug ya; of anyone, _you_ oughta know war's an ugly thing. Sometimes ya gotta do things ya'd rather not do, just ta survive. But _this_?" Raph held up the dagger, looking at it in dark satisfaction. "This is somethin' I'll take on my conscience _gladly_. Even Master Splinter wouldn't go against it, bro; especially after what Hun did ta his Master Yoshi."

"I know that we need to deal with the threats we know about, and that we need every advantage we can get. But to premeditate something like this…" Leo trailed off, discomfort and confusion shadowing his face. "Is it really honorable?"

"Honorable?" Raph shook his head. "Leo, we're goin' up against Karai an' almost all of the Foot, from what ya've told us about yer premonition; that's four against a frickin' _army_. _That_ is dishonorable. This ain't, bro; this is us tryin' ta survive. And there ain't anythin' dishonorable 'bout killin' someone like Hun. Hell, if anythin', it's honorable, what with all the people he's killed an' all he's done. If we've got honor to avenge against anyone, Hun's at the top'a the list."

"I don't say this too often, but Raph's right," a calm voice interjected.

Both Leo and Raph turned to see Don leaning against the entrance to the dojo. He smiled slightly as he looked at Leo. "This isn't anything horrible that you're doing, Leo; this is just a tactical strike. Besides, you _know_ that any of the Foot, or Karai, or Hun, would do something even worse than this without a second thought."

Leo sighed, relaxing slightly. "I guess you guys are right."

"Of course we are," Don agreed easily. "You're doing all you can, Leo; we all are. That's all anyone could ask for."

"It is indeed, Leonardo."

The three turtles turned to see Splinter walking into the dojo. Leo opened his mouth to speak, but the ninja master cut him off with a raised hand.

"I believe I know what you would say, or try to apologize for, my son, and I have to echo your brothers' words; you dishonor no one with this plan of action."

A weight seemed to lift from Leo's shoulders, and he bowed. "Thank you, Sensei."

Splinter inclined his head in return. "Now, we have only a few hours to go, so if you would fetch your brother, I would appreciate it."

Don smiled at his brothers "Come on; Mikey's sleeping again, and he's an easy target."

The older turtles grinned and quickly followed.

The Lair was quiet for several moments, then a roar came from the living room.

"_Body slam!!!_"

"Agghh!! Raaaaaph! My legs!!! I can't feel my legs!"

"Hey, Leo, what's the sibling special of the day?"

"Well, Don, if I remember correctly, when anyone gets more sleep than everyone else _combined_…it's free punches!"

"Ouch! Hey, c'mon guys—ow!—geez, Leo, this isn't the honorable, ninja-like thing to do! Ow! Three against one—ouch!—is totally unfair! Ow ow ow ow!!!!! No noogies!!!"

"Stop yer whinin', Mikey!"

"Ahem."

"…"

"I believe I specified _fetching_ your brother, not abusing him."

"But we were jus' bondin', Mastah Splinter."

"…"

"We're coming, we're coming!"

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Splinter watched as his sons finished up another kata, and sighed. "_Yame_, my sons. That is enough."

The four turtles halted as requested, bowed, and knelt smoothly into _seiza_.

The old teacher stared at his sons and students, his heart clenching painfully. In truth, he'd already kept them longer than he'd originally intended to, but his paternal instincts had taken hold while watching his sons practice. He had almost been able to convince himself that this was just another day in their lives. It had been simple to pretend that after this practice, his sons would go and roughhouse like usual…instead of going out to fight a battle that one of them might not come back from.

_Which one?_ Splinter's mind wondered. _Which one of my sons will I lose? Or which one of our friends will we lose?_

Splinter closed his eyes; the idea of such a loss was more than he could bear.

"Sensei?" Michelangelo asked hesitantly.

Another sigh escaped as Splinter opened his eyes and stood slowly. "You are dismissed, my sons. I shall…be in my room." The old master padded into his room, and quickly fell into meditation. Turbulent emotions flew in a frenzy around his mind and heart, and he was soon absorbed in trying to calm them. He was the father; he had to be strong for his sons.

In what seemed like no time at all, he heard Leonardo's soft voice in the living room.

"It's time."

Splinter pulled himself out of his trance and stood, walking heavily out of his room. Leonardo was already at his door, and his brothers stood along with him. The four of them lined up again, waiting in front of Splinter.

The ancient master smiled sadly at his sons. "For all that this feels like a familiar scene, I find that I do not know what I should say…so I will instead say what I _need_ to say. I love you, my sons. I am proud of all of you, and I shall see you when you return." He then went to each of sons, planting a kiss on each bald head, just as he'd done when they were young turtle tots.

Each of the turtles said a quiet goodbye.

"See ya, Sensei."

"Bye, Master Splinter."

"Later, Sensei."

"Goodbye, Master Splinter."

Splinter stepped back and looked at them all once more. "Be careful, my sons. Remember that you are one, and fight as such. I shall await your return."

Don, Mikey and Raph bowed and headed for the door, but Leo stayed by Splinter. The ninja master glanced at his eldest, who was watching his brothers leave the Lair.

"Leonardo?"

Leo kept his eyes fixed on his brothers. "I swear to you, Master Splinter, I will keep them safe. I will do everything I can to make sure they make it home."

Splinter felt a part of his heart crack. "And what about _you_, my son?"

The blue-banded turtle's eyes wavered towards Splinter, then fell away. "I…I will not dishonor you, Sensei."

"My son—"

"Goodbye, Sensei." Leo bowed again, unable to say anything more, then quickly joined his brothers in the tunnel. He carefully pulled the foundry's heavy door shut, resting his forehead against it for a moment.

Raph's voice sounded from behind him quietly. "We doin' this?"

Leo straightened and faced his brothers, leading the way through the sewers. "You know we are." They walked quietly through the dank tunnels, and Leo cast a last glance back at the way they'd come. _Please_…he thought, sending the prayer up to anyone that would listen. _Please let us make it home. Even if I don't, even if I can't…let **them** make it home._

_Please_.

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The four of them were soon passing swiftly over the rooftops of New York. None of them said a word, all of them tensely silent, contemplating what the night would bring.

Raph glanced ahead at Leo frowning as his older brother stumbled a couple times. Putting on an extra burst of speed, he pulled up alongside Leo, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.

"You okay, bro?"

Leo gave a short sigh of frustration. "I'm fine."

"Uh-huh. That's why yer runnin' like a drunk, right?"

Another sigh, this one resigned as Leo's shoulders drooped. "Really, I'm fine. It's just that…things are—distorted. I've already done this; run this way, made these moves…I've seen all of it in my premonition. And I keep remembering that vision, and images from it keep flashing through my head, almost right at the same time as I'm running along the path I'm seeing. And sometimes the overlapping isn't exact, and there's—two of everything, in a way. It's a little—disturbing. Makes it hard to know what I'm seeing."

Raph looked at his brother sharply. "You gonna be alright?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, it's fine, Raph. I'm sure once we get there things will be…busy enough that I won't have time for it to be a problem."

"…Are you sure yer okay?"

A sad smile bloomed on Leo's face. "No," he said softly. "I'm terrified. I'm going to lose someone important to me for the second time tonight. I already felt that person's death in my premonition, but that was like—like an echo of a scream…a fragment, a shadow of the real thing. I'm running towards the real thing now, and I don't know what to do."

Raph paused, unsettled by Leo's words; fear was one of those things that the two of them never talked about, and to have Leo admit to being scared honestly scared Raph slightly in return. "Ya…ya never said anythin'."

Leo chuckled dryly. "What was I supposed to say? Was I supposed to tell you the truth? Tell you that I wanted nothing more than to lock everyone who was important to me in a steel room where they'd be safe and then hide under my bed until this was over? Or how about the fact that there were times during the past few nights when I wanted to go out and do my best to kill every single Foot soldier in the city, in the hopes that if they didn't exist, then maybe all of these events would fall apart and never happen. Would any of you really want to hear that, Raph?"

The red-banded turtle glanced away in discomfort.

"Of course you wouldn't," Leo answered for him gently. "Leaders aren't supposed to be afraid, aren't _allowed_ to be afraid. I blow that "rule" out of the water every day. Leaders also aren't allowed to show fear; of course, that's a rule for a _hypothetical_ situation," Leo added sarcastically. "Because _everyone_ knows that leaders are _never_ afraid. That tenet, not showing fear…that's the only one I'm vaguely able to keep." He sighed. "I've gotten way too good at hiding things from you guys."

Raph agreed silently; as much as he hated it, Leo _was_ notoriously hard to read most of the time. The hothead glanced over at his brother again, trying for a weak smile. "Well, if it makes ya feel better, bro, you don't hide as much as ya think. I hate ta break it to ya, but it's true. As good as you've gotten at hidin' things, we've gotten almost as good as findin' them. It's one of those "little brother" things."

Leo smiled. "Don't I know it."

Mikey and Don pulled up alongside their brothers at that point, glancing at the older turtles.

"You guys alright?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah. We're as fine as we can be, Mikey," Leo assured his brother.

"You guys ready?"

"Ready as we can be," Raph replied.

"We're here," Don pointed out.

The four of them halted a couple rooftops away from their destination, blending into the shadows. They could easily see dozens upon dozens of Foot ninja on the rooftops, as well as three other buildings close by.

"Damn…" Raph murmured. "You sure as hell didn't mention there'd be this many of 'em, bro."

Leo shook his head, staring at the forces as well. "I didn't know…" Swallowing slightly, he pulled his eyes away and looked at his brothers. "Everyone knows the plan?"

Mikey raised a hand and waved it wildly like a kid in class. "Pick me, pick me!"

"Mikey…"

"It's pretty basic, really. Leo provides a distraction, Raph provides a distraction, I provide some more distraction, Don tries to give us lung cancer and worsen global warming—"

"It's non-carcinogenic smoke!" Don objected. "And there's nothing even remotely aerosol-related in it, either. It's completely biodegradable and environmentally friendly, and even if it wasn't, there's not enough of it to cause damage, and I _know_ I've told you this before now—"

"Then Raph gets April, and we're good," Mikey finished, grinning at his intelligent brother.

Raph snorted. "Yeah, then we just have to deal with the horde of Karai's pets. No sweat," he added sarcastically. "Well, at least it's a nice night ta get our shells waxed. You ready, Leo?"

Leo stood staring at the Foot-covered rooftops again. "How can I be doing this?" he asked softly. "I'm leading us right into a trap. I know it's a trap, I've known for days that it's a trap, and I'm still doing this. How is this right?"

"It's right because we don't have any other choice, Leo," Don said solemnly. "April's down there, and we owe it to her to save her. And even beyond that…you said yourself that this isn't something we can get around. This is something that's been coming for a while now; if our confrontation with the Foot didn't come now, it'd just come later, and we probably wouldn't have any warning then."

"Someone's going to _die_."

"We know, but that don't change the fact that we're in this together. We trust ya, Leo," Raph said firmly. He stepped beside his brother, pulling him into a one-armed hug.

Mikey came up as well, on Leo's other side. "Always have."

Don joined his brothers, completing the circle. "Always will."

Leo pulled all of his brothers closer, the four of them meshing tightly into the group hug. He then took a deep breath and pulled away a moment later. "Thank you." His eyes moved towards their destination. "And so it begins…let's go."

They took off again, springing from the shadows. No more than two minutes later, they leapt off the last building and landed suddenly in the middle of the ring of ninja.

Raph smirked, gratified to see the ninja around them starting in surprise. _Same crappy Foot…can't sense an enemy even when they're expectin' us._

"Eight o'clock on the dot," Don reported softly, a hint of morbid humor in his voice.

"Well, well, well, look who it is," a deep voice rumbled mockingly. "If it isn't everyone's favorite freaks."

The turtles turned towards the voice, and Hun soon walked out of the shadows, dragging April along with one massive hand wrapped around her arm. April's hair was messy and ragged, and a black eye was swelling rapidly on the left side of her face. Her hands were tied behind her back, and a volatile mixture of fear and anger flickered on her features. Raph grit his teeth, and could feel his brothers tensing as well at the sight of their friend.

Hun sneered at Leo. "Leading your brothers right into a trap and delivering them right to us…I guess you took the Master up on his offer of partnership after all, though it's a bit late."

A snarl clawed its way out of Leo's throat and he moved towards the giant man, only to be held back by Raph and Don. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I'll _die_ before I even think about joining with Oroku Saki."

The behemoth released April only to crack the knuckles on each hand menacingly. "Oh, you'll die alright; and I can't wait to watch. And _help_."

"That's enough."

Four green heads turned towards the new voice as Karai strode towards them out of the swarm of Foot ninja. The ranks of black-clad figures parted quickly before her, then resumed their positions just as swiftly. The _kunoichi_ kept walking until she stood a mere five feet in front of them, between them and April, and locked eyes with Leo. A small smile crept onto her face, there and gone in a flash.

"So. You came," she noted calmly, dark satisfaction coloring her voice.

Leo stared back at Karai impassively. "Did you honestly think we wouldn't?"

"Truly? No. I knew that you would come, otherwise I would not have wasted my time with this woman."

The comment drew Raph's eyes to April for a second time. She seemed slightly calmer now that the four of them were there, but she still looked decidedly scared. Raph held her eyes carefully, then looked pointedly over to the fire escape. He subtly moved one of his hands in her direction, palm out, cautioning, trying to reassure her silently.

_Wait. We'll get you out of here. Just wait._

April gave a tiny nod and shifted away from Hun slightly, her movements small and almost unnoticeable.

Raph shifted his attention back to Karai, who had begun talking again.

"Your loyalty is admirable, but I must admit I am still confused," Karai noted casually, her tone calm as though they were merely having a harmless conversation. "As you can see, you are greatly outnumbered. How exactly do you expect to rescue her?"

Leo's eyes drifted towards Raph's. "How indeed…"

In that instant, Leo dove forward, drawing his swords and lunging at Karai from one side while Mikey followed right behind him. The _kunoichi_ instinctively darted away from them, unintentionally giving Raph a clear shot at Hun.

The red-banded turtle needed no further encouragement. Jerking the dagger from his belt, he pulled his arm back and then sent the blade flying towards Hun with a snap of his wrist.

His practice had paid off. The dagger flew straight at Hun, too quickly for the behemoth to dodge it, and landed firmly in the man's chest with a wet, sickening thump.

A shocked silence fell over the figures on the roof, and all eyes were glued on either Raph or Hun.

The large man stood just as still as everyone else, shock frozen on his features. Hun's eyes were fixed on Raph's, and they never left the red-banded turtle as the behemoth gave one strangled choke and fell backwards, landing heavily on the rooftop. The resulting thud echoed across the rooftops, and the entire city seemed to quiet in that one moment.

Silence reigned for only a moment longer, however, as Leo's voice rang through the night.

"_Now!!!_"

Raph barely caught the motion as Don's hand shot out, the remote clicking sharply six times as he activated the smoke bombs. The hissing of smoke became audible, and thick, billowing clouds of dark smoke immediately began pouring seemingly out of nowhere. The Foot began shouting as the visibility quickly died, but over the noise Raph could hear a quick snatch of words from Don.

"Go, Raph; we've got a three to five minute window, tops, before this breeze clears the smoke. Get April out of here."

"Already gone." With that, Raph dove into the billowing smoke clouds, his senses easily leading him to the last place he'd seen April. His sai were out and ready in his hands, and soon enough he encountered the first Foot ninja still guarding his friend. The black clad man was down and out before he had hardly even registered Raph's presence, quickly followed by three more of his fellows. And then suddenly he was beside April, slicing through the ropes on her wrists and hauling her to her feet. Raph moved her behind him carefully and began heading for the fire escape. "You alright, Ape?" he asked in a low undertone.

A quick hug was wrapped around his neck from behind. "I am so glad to see you guys," April breathed shakily.

"Same here. Now stay right behind me, we're gettin' you the hell outta here. Where's the rest of the goons that were guardin' you?"

"Gone," April reported. One of her arms moved past Raph's shoulder to point in front of them, off to the left. "After you killed Hun and the bombs went off, I guess they figured that you'd try and go after Karai next, so most of them ran towards her to protect her."

Raph followed her finger with his eyes, and his stomach tightened as he realized that he could vaguely see the black shapes April was talking about through the smoke. "Dammit, this stuff's clearin' out faster than I thought." He sheathed his sai with a quick motion, then grabbed April by the wrist and took off for the fire escape. The ladder quickly came into view, and Raph turned and picked April up abruptly, holding her bridal style. He then took the last few steps to the ladder and leaned over the edge of the roof.

"Raph, what are you doing?!" April demanded, trying to move her arms from where Raph's hold had pinned them to her side.

The hothead winked at April and gave her a thin smile. "Take care'a yerself, Ape."

Then he dropped April over the side of the building.

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"Raphael!!!!" The shriek tore its way from April's throat as she fell through the air, then started in surprise as she felt herself land in a pair of muscular arms, shifting around to see who it was that had caught her. "Casey!!"

The dark-haired man grinned at April as he quickly carried her down the fire escape stairs. "Hey, babe. You okay?" He turned her face towards him carefully, and his smile quickly changed to a dark frown at the bruising on the side of her face. "Those pieces of shit _hit_ you?" he demanded, his voice rising in rage. "Who was it?"

"Casey, we—"

"_Who was it?_"

April sighed quietly. "It was Hun," she admitted.

"Hun?!" Rage darkened Casey's face dangerously. "When I get my hands on 'im, I'm gonna—"

"Casey. Raph—Raph killed him."

The vigilante paused in shock. "What? He did?" Emotions chased each other across his face before a dark smirk took hold of his mouth. "Good. If it wasn't me that was gonna do 'im in, I'd want it ta be Raph." He helped April off the fire escape and carefully set her on the back of his bike, handing her a helmet. "C'mon, Ape, we gotta go."

April stared at him, refusing the helmet. "Go? Casey, we can't! We can't just leave them here, they'll be killed!"

Discomfort and anger danced across Casey's features as he put the helmet on April himself. "Sorry, babe, those're my orders. The guys'd kill me if I let ya stay here."

"_Let_ me stay here?! Casey Jones, you—"

Casey cut her off, wrapping her arms around his waist and kicking the motorcycle into life. "They'll be okay, Ape. We gotta believe that. Leo ain't gonna let anythin' happen t'anyone, an' neither will Raph."

The motorcycle's roar cut off any response April might have made, and the two of them were soon tearing down the streets towards the Lair. During their talk the other day, Raph and Leo had both told Casey to take April back to the Lair; if the Foot knew where April lived, they might know where Casey's place was as well, and they couldn't risk taking that chance. The Foot still didn't know where the new Lair was, so it was the safest place to go. Casey tried to keep his mind on the road, but thoughts of his friends kept making him cringe.

_What'm I doin'? The guys can't take that many pajama freaks alone, they need help! _He felt April's arm squeeze tighter around his waist at a particularly sharp turn. _But I gotta get April somewhere safe. She ain't in no shape ta be gettin' in a fight._ Casey swallowed hard, then poured more speed into the motorcycle. _I'll get her back to tha Lair, an' make sure Mastah Splintah can keep an eye on her, then I'm comin' back t'help the guys. They can handle themselves fer a little while, I know it. They'll be fine._

_I gotta believe that._

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Leo glanced over his shoulder, breathing a sigh of relief when Raph signaled him that Casey and April were safely away. _That's two deaths I don't have to worry about having on my conscience. Now let's just hope I can protect my brothers too._

He glanced up, and his heart sank into his stomach as the smoke cleared. Don and Mikey were both restrained by a dozen ninja, and Raph's curses could be heard clearly as another dozen swarmed and subdued him. As for Leo himself, he was staring at six Foot armed with bows and arrows, all standing merely five feet from him.

The nearest ninjas in front of him parted suddenly, and Karai paced towards him through the opening. Without sparing him a glance, she walked past his brothers as well to stand over Hun's body. A few quiet moments passed, and then Karai finally spoke, looking at the Turtles behind her.

"I suppose that I should be upset about his death, if for no reason other than he was a soldier of my father's…but he was a fool, and an arrogant one at that. His death is no loss." She leaned down and grasped the handle of the dagger, then braced a foot on Hun's massive chest and pulled the weapon free. Blood dripped readily from the blade, and Karai grimaced and wiped the dagger clean on Hun's shirt. She examined the weapon for a few minutes, then glanced at the Foot surrounding Raph. "Release him," she ordered.

The ninja hesitated, then slowly did as they were told, backing away from Raph quickly. Karai met his glare with her own steely gaze, then threw the dagger at Raph, who managed to catch it. She sniffed, vague disappointment flashing over her features. "You may keep this, I suppose. To the victor go the spoils."

Leo narrowed his eyes. Karai's gaze drifted towards him, then to his brothers suggestively, and finally back to him. He met her eyes firmly as they stared each other down, while he tried to control the surge of anger he felt at her implication. _My brothers are not trophies,_ he hissed at her in his mind.

A slight smirk flitted across Karai's face as she held Leo's eyes. "Release the other two as well."

Don and Mikey made their way to his side, with Raph coming up behind him, and the three of them arrayed themselves around Leo. As soon as the four of them stood together, another six Foot ninja drifted to the front of the lines with drawn and loaded bows.

"Should we make a run for it?" Mikey asked quietly.

Leo shook his head regretfully, the movement hardly visible. "No," he breathed. "The smoke bombs didn't last as long as I'd hoped they would, and all of the Foot are still surrounding the perimeter of the roof. And as handy as our plastrons have been in the past, I really don't want to test them against a bunch of arrows," Leo said softly. "We got April out of here, but I think that's all the luck we're going to get tonight."

Raph grumbled behind him. "Not ta sound ungrateful or anythin', but it'd be nice ta have _everythin'_ go our way fer once. Like now."

Don laughed softly. "You don't ask for much, do you, Raph?"

"Silence." Karai's voice cut through the air as she approached the four of them, running a hand over the claws on her wrist. She spoke to all of them, but her eyes were fixed firmly on Leo.

"I suppose you are wondering why you are here," she mused, her tone cold.

"Not really. It ain't exactly a hard one ta figure out," Raph snapped. His eyes flicked between Leo and Karai as he tried to draw her attention from his brother, uncomfortable with how the _kunoichi_ was watching Leo. "I mean, it's not like yer tryin' anythin' new."

Karai's only reaction was to cast a short, derisive glance Raph's way; her attention then returned to Leo.

"And you, Leonardo? Of course _you_ know why you are all here."

Leo remained impassive. "I'm here because you threatened someone I care about," he said quietly, his voice calm.

Karai's face darkened. "And as for why she was endangered because of _you_?"

Tenseness seeped into Leo's muscles as Karai's words tugged at his conscience. "I have my suspicions."

"And they are?"

Leo stayed silent.

"So shy? You had no problem sharing your opinions the last time we met." Karai glared at him. "So why was she taken?"

Leo's teeth grit together. "Because you refuse to let go of the past."

Karai hissed and struck out, scoring two shallow slices into Leo's plastron. "You are here because my father is gone!" she snarled.

Raph growled and stopped forward, one hand jerking a sai from his belt. "Didn't _Daddy_ ever teach you ta keep yer hands to yerself?"

Rage flashed in Karai's eyes, and her claws repositioned themselves to point at Raph's throat. "You are not fit to talk of my father, scum. And unless you want to watch your brothers die, I suggest you sheathe your weapon and _hold your tongue_."

The hothead's only response was a derisive snort. "Oh, right, like you _weren't_ gonna kill us in the first place," he sneered tensely, flipping his sai so that the point faced away from Karai, despite his rash words.

"I never said that I was going to kill you. Leonardo's is the only life I need; _he_ is responsible for my father's banishment."

"Your father is responsible for his own banishment," Leo said quietly.

Karai glared at him, refusing to answer the comment, then spoke to Raph again. "_His_ death is the only necessary one. The rest of you will die soon after him, regardless." She nodded to Raph scornfully. "Without him to hold you back, your own stupidity will see you running off to your own death soon enough." Her gaze shifted to Don and Mikey. "And you will not last long, either; grief will run you both into your graves. The rat will meet the same sort of end, after the loss of his _precious_ son. You are a weak whole; I can destroy all of you by killing just one."

Don spoke up, vehement anger ringing clearly in his quiet words. "Don't count on it. We've survived a lot, and we will continue to do so."

"Yeah," Mikey retorted. "_We_ don't stand alone."

The _kunoichi_ snorted. "Believe what you like."

Karai's attention finally moved back to Leo. "You, no doubt, will appreciate how fitting this end truly is; our fathers started this feud, and are now beyond it, and now we, as the next leaders of our clans, will end it."

Leo sighed, and distractedly wiped some of the blood off of his plastron. "Your anger still controls you, Karai. The battle between us is already over."

"It is over when I say it is," Karai hissed. "As I told you before, Leonardo, _nothing_ will be enough until you lie dead and broken at my feet."

Raph growled. "Yer gonna have ta go through us ta get to him."

Karai smiled darkly. "No, actually, I will not." With that, she glanced beyond them and gave a curt nod.

Leo tensed, his hands going for his swords, when three shouts sent him spinning around. Mikey, Don and Raph were all holding one of their arms or legs, and a single shuriken jutted out of each one.

Don grimaced as he jerked the sharp metal out of his leg. He threw it onto the roof, straightening again, and then fear slowly spread across his face. His eyes flew to his brothers. "Tranquilizers…" he whispered.

Mikey and Raph's eyes grew just as wide as Don's, and they quickly ripped the shuriken out of their arms. Raph snarled and turned back to face Karai, his hands curling into fists. "You little _ikeike (1)_," he spat. "I swear I'm gonna—"

A dull thud cut him off. Don now sat lazily on the roof, holding his head in one hand. "I can't…can't think…"

Raph moved towards his brother, but no sooner had he taken a step than Mikey collapsed as well. He tried to change directions and ended up falling as well.

Leo was beside him in a second, grabbing Raph's shoulders. "Raph! Don, Mikey, you need to stay awake!"

"Get…outta here, Leo," Raph mumbled drowsily, his eyes slipping shut. "Get…'way…"

Panic flared brightly in Leo's chest as his brother went limp, soon followed by Don and Mikey.

Karai's voice sounded from behind him, her tone cool and unconcerned. "I must admit I did not expect the serum to work so quickly. I wonder if perhaps I should have asked Chaplin if it was fatal."

At her words, Leo flew to his feet and whipped around, his hands reaching for his swords as anger and fear flared in his gut. However, he no sooner had turned to face Karai when a stinging pain seared across his right arm. Leo glanced down to see a slice on his bicep, shallow but already leaking blood. Looking up at Karai, he saw the shuriken she held.

_Oh, shell._

Karai smiled darkly, dropping the shuriken. "Sleep well, Leonardo; we shall see each other again soon enough."

Leo breathed heavily, panic rising in his chest. He could feel a strange, numb tingling spreading through his body. It was creeping through his arm and seemed to move faster with every second. His thoughts started blurring, but one was easy enough to focus on:

_Gotta get them out of here._

He turned back to his brothers, trying desperately to get to them before he lost consciousness. Unfortunately, the move racked him with dizziness, and his legs crumpled beneath him. He landed heavily on the ground, barely managing to catch himself before his face hit the pavement. And suddenly, it seemed like the best idea in the world to just lie down and go to sleep.

_No…have to…have to…do **something**…_

Footsteps echoed blurrily around him, and he managed to lift his head enough to look up. A familiar steel figure wavered in front of his eyes, and hollow words reached his ears.

"Look carefully at the brothers you have failed, Leonardo, for it is the last time you will ever see them alive."

_No…I didn't…didn't fail…again…_

Leo's thoughts were far too weak to last, and it seemed like the only thing he could do was obey the words echoing in his head. He somehow managed to turn his head, and three motionless green forms seemed to fill his entire vision, until he felt he was swimming in emerald.

_No…_

Then the drug-induced exhaustion swept over him, and all color faded to black oblivion.

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Karai stood motionless, watching impassively as Leo finally succumbed to the sedative. It took several moments for her to compose herself as she sought to banish the memory of his gaze; barely conscious, a fear she had never seen before seemed to have floated in Leonardo's eyes.

"Mistress Karai? Your orders?"

The timid, carefully respectful voice of one of her ninja successfully brought her back to herself. "You may proceed. Bring Chaplin."

The ninja bowed deeply and signaled several of fellows that were standing by the rooftop entrance of the building. They opened the door, revealing the redheaded scientist, and escorted him to Karai.

"Awesome!" he piped up upon seeing the motionless Turtles. "That stuff really did work!" He glanced at Karai quickly. "Not that I didn't think it would; I'd never give you something that wouldn't work, it's just great to see that it worked so fast! I kinda thought that with their mutated systems it might have taken too long, but it looks like everything went great!" Chaplin paused momentarily upon seeing Hun's corpse. "Oh…I—I guess everything didn't. Geez, that's a bummer."

Karai sighed sharply. The young man was wearing on her already short nerves. "Chaplin. Hun is dead, and that is not to be dwelt on. I need all the time that this sedative of yours can give me. Secure the bugs to Leonardo's brothers."

"Oh, right!" The redhead quickly set down the bag he was carrying, flipping it open to reveal a small box. He opened it and carefully removed the three tiny bugs within, fixing a small piece of adhesive to the back of each, then activating each one.

"You are certain they will not fall off?" Karai asked as she watched him.

"No way!" Chaplin said. "They only come off if they're pulled off, but that's why we're hiding them." The young man set down the bugs, then moved towards the nearest turtle, Raphael. He struggled with the turtle's motionless bulk for several moments, but finally managed to move him onto his front. Chaplin then grabbed one of the bugs, and carefully attached it to the inner rim of Raph's shell, directly behind his right arm. "See, by putting them here, there's no way these guys'll know they're bugged, 'cause there's no way they can reach this part of their shell. It'll work, no problem!"

"See that it does."

Chaplin finished attaching the bugs, then flipped on his laptop and opened a trakcing program. Shortly after that, three green dots flashed onto the screen, marked precisely on the grid. The young man grinned. "All systems are go!"

Karai allowed herself a small smile, throwing a bit of praise towards the eager young man. "Excellent. You have done well, Chaplin. The Foot Techs will take you back to headquarters, and I want you to link your computer to the main grid and find the Turtles' new hiding place."

"You got it, Mistress Karai! I'll see ya later!"

Once the young man was gone, Karai knelt down and removed the phone from Raphael's belt. Flipping it open, she frowned; the contraption looked little like a normal phone. A small number two etched into the casing near the top caught her attention, however. Reaching over to Donatello, she removed his phone as well and checked it; it bore a three. Karai pressed the three on Raphael's phone, and was gratified when Donatello's rang, Raphael's name flashing on the calling screen.

_Pre-programmed numbers. That should make this easier_.

Checking Michelangelo and Leonardo's phones resulted in the numbers four and one. _So they are each a number between one and four…then the rat must be five._ Returning the phones to three of the turtles' belts, she kept Raphael's and pressed the five, holding the screen up in front of her face.

The phone had hardly finished ringing once before a face appeared on the screen.

"Oh, Raph, I'm so glad to hear from you! It's been forever, and we hadn't heard anything, and we wanted to go back, but Splinter wanted us to stay put, and—Karai!" April went pale, then glared at the _kunoichi_. "What are you doing with Raph's phone? If you've hurt any of them, I'll—"

"You will do nothing,_ yowamiso (2)_. I have no business with you. Put the rat on the phone now, or they all die."

Karai felt a surge of smugness when the woman paled again and said nothing. Moments later, Splinter's face replaced April's.

The rat's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he hissed at the screen. "_You…_"

The _kunoichi_ felt tempted to draw back at the hatred she could almost _feel_ in his voice, but she quickly mastered the sensation. "Yes, rat. Me."

"What do you want? Where are my sons?"

Karai sneered. "You know very well what I want. I want all of you dead and broken. I want my revenge, and so I am taking it. Your sons are in my hands. That is why I have called you. I have a proposition that I am certain you will want to hear."

The rat's whiskers twitched, but he showed no other emotion. "And that is?"

"I will give you three of your sons back, alive and well. You will find them on the roof of the building on the corner of Hargrove and Prudence. My ninja will wait there. You have ten minutes to retrieve them, or they will be killed. And if you do not take them and return to the hole you live in, you _all_ will be killed."

"And as for Leonardo?"

Karai suppressed a smile. The rat was no fool; he knew very well which son he would not be getting back. "He is no longer your concern. He is mine; his life is my forfeit. You have ten minutes, _gaichou (3)_." She shut the phone with a snap and stuck it back on Raphael's belt.

Standing, she summoned the Elite to her. The silent figures bowed, their red eyes fixed on her.

"Go. Deliver the Turtles, then report back here."

The quartet bowed again, then took hold of the Turtles. A split second later, all seven figures disappeared in a puff of smoke. Karai gestured at one of the Foot soldier groups. "Follow them, and guard the Turtles. Watch for the rat, leave once they are collected, and report back to me. If he does not appear, you know what to do." The men bowed, and then the twenty ninja were gone, disappearing over the rooftops. "The rest of you will return to headquarters."

Seconds after the forces dispersed, the Elite returned, bowing to Karai once again. The leader approached her, speaking in the strange whispery hiss that was his voice. "It is done."

"Good."

The man hesitated, then spoke again. "My lady Shredder…why do they live? We have had opportunities innumerable to slay them, and you have no love for them. Why are we restrained from killing them?"

Karai stared at Leonardo, answering the man coldly. "Because they are bait. Were the rat and the Turtles' allies to not hear from them, they would come out searching for the four of them. I will not tolerate any interruptions as I destroy Leonardo. And the rat's affection for them is a father's love; he will not risk three of his sons' lives for one. By the time they are home and awake, by the time the rat is certain the three of them are safe, by the time they set out to find Leonardo…he will already be dead. And by returning home to "save" their lives, the rat and his allies will lead me right to their door."

The Elite bowed in silent acknowledgment of her plan.

She turned to the man, raising her head. "Call the police and alert them to the whereabouts of Hun's body; we shall see how well his spotless reputation holds up after this. And make certain that his underlings in the Purple Dragons know of his death as well; I want them to know that they are leaderless and vulnerable now, nothing more than baggage. I will decide later whether I wish to continue our dealings with them. But for now, deliver Leonardo to the battleground, and watch over him until I arrive. _No one_ is to touch him; he is mine to kill. I shall arrive shortly."

Another bow followed, and soon Karai stood alone on the rooftop.

_Everything is falling into place,_ she thought, allowing herself a short moment of satisfaction. Her gaze drifted across the skyline, towards the rooftop she knew Leo now rested on, and that satisfaction turned dark and bloody. _And soon, Leonardo, your family will fall, and then you yourself will fall into your place, as well…_

_Dead at my feet, and out of my life forever._

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_(1) ikeike_b!ch

_(2) yowamiso_weakling

_(3) gaichou_vermin

**A/N: And that's done! Holy crap, this thing was 33 pages long, and it's almost 4 in the morning. I'm insane. And I'm also sooo sorry again for the long wait. Hopefully, though, the crazy length and goodness of the chapter will make up for that. I'm very proud of this chapter, and I hope you guys like it too. I also hope you liked the snippets of Japanese that I threw in there; I'm going to be doing that more often, because I love it and it's fun. And yes, the Elite can transport people along with themselves. Why? Because I said so. :D And now I am off to bed, because I'm exhausted. Please read and review, and take care. Happy writing to everyone!**


	6. The Reckoning

_**Disclaimer**: The TMNT belong to Eastman and Laird. And since my name is neither Eastman nor Laird, the logical conclusion is that I do not own the Ninja Turtles. Sigh. Logic sucks._

_Alright, I'm starting this sucker out with a warning; this chapter will be kinda violent, rather bloody, and extremely angsty. And I **mean** angsty; I'm talking ten thousand emo kids who just lost their black nail polish all converging at a 'My Chemical Romance' concert. XD (That is probably the strangest analogy I've **ever** come up with. Oh, and absolutely no offense is meant to people who like 'My Chemical Romance', that's just the clearest example I could think of.) And yes, there is a character death within, just so you're all forewarned. This is probably going to be the biggest chapter of the story, at least in the way of pivotal happenings and goings-on; I don't know about page length. And no, there's not going to be anything over-the-top, like limbs flying and guts all over the place. I don't see the merit of death scenes like that, except for certain kinds of stories, and I don't know that I'd really have the stomach to write such a death scene, anyways. But this one will still be gory. And if anyone thinks I need to change the rating for this story, **please** let me know; I personally think the rating is alright at 'T', but it'd be helpful to know what you guys think. And now I'm seriously thinking I wrote waaay too much about it, and I'm probably making too big of a deal about it, but at least you're warned. Bah. I'm gonna stop typing before I make a bigger idiot of myself than usual. :D (I know what you're thinking; that'd be hard to do, ne? Lol. Shaddup. :b)_

_Now on to the thanking! Copious amounts of thanks go out to the reviewers for Chapter Five: **Tristripe, Aurora Musis Amica, RedRebel84, Pi90katana, Therabidsquirrel, BubblyShell22, greshunkai, Tewi, The Burninator Named Trogdor, **and **skyle**. You guys are way too good to me, and I'm seriously jazzed (does anyone other than me even **say** that anymore?) that you all liked that chapter so much. I think it was everyone's favorite so far. _

_And that's it! As for story progression, everything's going well. Chapter 7 is almost completely finished, so that should be another quick update, too. For more news on the story proceedings and such, check my profile; I really am going to try and update that periodically in between chapters so that you guys know I haven't died or anything. :D The only other thing I'm going to say is this: please like this chapter. I have worked really hard on this sucker and put a lot of effort into it, and I'll probably have to go drown myself in chocolate if it doesn't go over well. So please like it! Now that all **that** business is taken care of, on to the story!_

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Karai growled as she paced across the rooftop. _How?_ Another frustrated sigh, and another turn as she ran out of rooftop. _How can half an hour be so cursed long?_ She glanced over at Leo, who lay a few feet away on the roof, still in the same position as when the Elite had left him. Karai spared another look at her watch, growling again. When Chaplin had told her that the sedative would render the Turtles unconscious for half an hour, she was perfectly happy with the allotted time; she'd even wished slightly for a few extra minutes, just to ensure that everything went off perfectly. But now she doubted she would be able to wait for Leonardo to wake up. After so many months, so many hours and days and weeks, it seemed completely ridiculous that waiting half an hour should be so hard; but it was. The one who had caused her so much grief, who had brought her world tumbling down around her, who had caused her to lose her father's love _and_ her father, was lying _right there_, not five feet from her. Part of her wanted to do nothing more than go over and drive her blade straight through his heart, to end it, to end _him_ and avenge her father, once and for all. But the other, larger part of her was what kept her pacing along the rooftop; the part that wanted Leonardo to suffer, the part that wanted to prove she _could_ kill him…and the part that wanted answers. A curse escaped her, and she walked over to where Leonardo laid motionless, staring down at him. Frustrated, she swung her foot out and kicked him in the arm.

He didn't move. Not a twitch, not a blink, nothing.

Karai sighed, abandoning her aimless pacing to sit against the edge of the building. _So many months I have waited for this…to avenge my father, to get this—this **thing** out of my life for good. And yet Time decides to mock me and do nothing more than crawl by._ She looked back at Leonardo.

From where she sat, she could see the broken, shattered section of his shell, fractured during their battle on her father's ship. A small flicker of guilt wormed its way into her gut. Her anger flared again. _Why should I feel any guilt? He is my enemy; I did what I had to._

_Is he truly your enemy?_

Karai grit her teeth. That cursed voice, the same small one that had told her to stop her father from killing Leonardo, still continued to plague her.

_If he was your enemy, why did he save you so many times? If he was your enemy, why did **you** save **him**?_

She growled again. More questions…more questions she didn't have answers to. More questions she was determined to have Leonardo answer before she killed him. Unable to help herself, Karai let her mind drift back through the time she had known Leonardo. And to her chagrin, there were several times when he had saved her life; in Beijing, again when that scum Bishop kidnapped her, and then the time when she would have plummeted to her death aboard her father's ship. _But **why**?_ That was the question at the root of every problem, both the easy ones…and the hard ones.

_Why has he saved my life so many times? Why did I save him? Why is he my enemy? Why is there still some foolish part of me that doesn't want to kill him?_

Karai could not deny that a small part of her did not wish to see Leonardo dead. It was a very small part, and had been almost entirely consumed by her anger, but it still remained.

_Because you love him_, that small, treacherous voice whispered again.

She sighed brokenly, dropping her face in her hands. _I cannot love him. I hate him. Nothing will come of it…nothing **can **come of it. I am going to kill him tonight._

_That doesn't change the truth._

Karai slammed a hand into the unyielding surface of the roof. She _needed_ Leonardo to wake up, so she could have her answers, kill him, and silence that cursed voice forever. She looked over at the silent turtle again. But…it was hard to hate him when he looked so peaceful. Karai had always seen Leonardo as a warrior; she loved watching him in battle, and fighting him as well, for it was rare to find such a wonderful opponent. He was always on his guard, confident and hard to read. But now his face was still and calm, unguarded in sleep…and surprisingly vulnerable. And _young_. It was one of the few times Karai remembered that Leonardo was only in his teens; in the way he spoke, and acted, and fought…he always seemed so much older.

Another growl worked its way out of her throat. If she had to wait much longer, she risked having her will weakened. She risked losing her anger and hatred, forgetting why she wanted to kill Leonardo as she remembered why she was so drawn to him. If this took much longer, she was going to fall back into that pointless habit of wondering how they could make things work between them. Gritting her teeth so tightly they creaked, she shot another look at her watch.

Ten minutes remained.

Karai jolted back to her feet, resuming her pacing. Her steps rapped against the rooftop sharply, and each time she passed Leonardo she had to fight to keep her eyes away from him. A vehement stream of curses escaped her.

It was going to be a long ten minutes.

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Leo stirred restlessly. He felt like he was in a thick fog, like every part of him was weighted down by an invisible but heavy mass. There was a constant noise echoing around him, and he slowly realized that whatever the repetitive clanking noise was, it was exactly in time with the muffled pounding that was taking up residence behind his eyes. Despite his body's protests, Leo pried his eyes open, intent on finding that annoying noise and stopping it. His head was turned to the side, and he saw metallic boots pace past him. Slightly confused, he let his eyes slip shut again as he struggled to think. _Metal boots…? Who the shell would wear something like that?_

…_Karai!_

The answer cleared most of the muzzy feeling that clouded his head immediately. Her name began a chain reaction of memories as he recalled what had happened; setting out to rescue April, being surrounded by the Foot, getting April away safely…only to watch his brothers fall to the rooftop, unconscious, before he too was sedated.

A flood of emotions raced through Leo as his memory caught up with him. There was fear; where were his brothers? Were they alright? Were…were they even still alive? Anger was present too; how could he have led them into such a trap? Never mind his vision, why didn't he convince his brothers to let him go alone? Why did things have to come to this, anyways? And oddly enough, there was also relief; he was at last on the path his vision had shown him. There would be no more haunting dreams, no more tense days of worrying and fruitless planning; things were at last at an end…for better or worse. All that remained now was to stand up and fight.

With that thought, Leo forced his eyes open a second time and slowly rolled on to his front. He couldn't help a small groan; even though he was shifting carefully, the pounding in his head increased ferociously at his movement. As soon as the small sound of pain left his mouth, the rap of Karai's footsteps halted. Her cold voice drifted towards his ears from somewhere ahead of him.

"So, you are finally awake."

Leo risked a glance at her as he cautiously worked his way into a kneeling position. There was a frustrated look of impatience on her face. Confusion and exasperation pricked at him. _First she knocks me out, and now I've taken too long to wake up?_ "So sorry to keep you waiting," he murmured.

"Do not mock me, Leonardo. You are alone, and hardly in an advantageous position to do so."

Her words froze him, and he glanced around him quickly. She was right; his brothers weren't there. Leo whipped his head back towards her, despite the pain it caused his head, and glared at her. "Where are my brothers?" he asked, his voice low.

A smug smile tugged at her lips. "Safely on their way home…unfortunately for _you_."

"What?" Leo tried to hide his confusion. "Why would my brothers' safety be unfortunate for me?"

Karai's eyes held triumph. "Because they are going to lead me straight to whatever hole you and the rat have been hiding in, Leonardo."

"What? How—" A light snapped on in Leo's mind, and he could feel his heart drop into his stomach. "No…you—you bugged them?" The victorious expression on her face told him all he needed to know.

"Your brothers should be awakening now, just as you have…if they are not already dead. I had your brothers delivered to your rat master, and gave him a choice: take the three of them and return home unharmed, or refuse and be killed." She regarded Leo, her expression curiously blank. "I have not yet heard from my soldiers, so tell me; which do _you_ think he chose?"

For a dizzying moment Leo thought he would be sick to his stomach. Leo knew his father would not be able to bring himself to risk three sons for one; he wouldn't even want Splinter to do so, not for his sake. But his brothers…his family…it was far too easy to think of what would happen to them. He could easily see the foundry destroyed like the Y'Lyntian Lair had been. And this time…this time, Leo couldn't see any escape for his family. They would be caught off guard; Splinter's attention would be focused on his brothers, who would just be starting to recover from the sedative's effects. Karai wouldn't take any chances after what happened last time…they would be even more greatly outnumbered than last time…Leo's eyes slid shut, and he thought his despair would swallow him whole. _No…there could still be a chance, couldn't there…? Maybe…maybe it's a trick…_

"You took my father from me, Leonardo; the only family I have ever had. So I took away your family. And now it is only us."

Leo glared death at the woman in front of him. "I will kill you for this," he vowed, his voice shaking with emotion.

Karai's face quickly took on a look of hate that matched Leo's. "That is where you are wrong, Leonardo. _You_ are the one who will die tonight. I will avenge my father, and I will wipe you off of the face of this earth. You and your entire family will be nothing more than a memory. Less, even; who will remain to remember you?"

"Damn you…" Leo whispered. He could hardly speak for the weight for his emotions. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to his feet. "How could I have ever thought I could trust you?"

A hint of pain crossed Karai's face. "I suppose for the same reason I thought I could trust you; naïveté and ignorant hope. We both have been fools, and now we are both orphaned fools."

Leo closed his eyes, trying to come to grips with what had happened, but he couldn't. The loss of his entire family, so swiftly and when he couldn't even be there with them…combined with Karai's actions and the discovery of his feelings, it all was a wound too raw to touch. _I will avenge this_, he promised himself. _**Now**, because there is no longer any reason for hesitation._ Reaching behind him, he drew one of his katana, then met Karai's eyes. He pushed his pain away, bringing his focus only to the coming fight. "You wanted your battle, Karai; let's go, then. We'll end this now."

"No."

"…What?"

"We _will_ fight, and you _will_ die…but I will have some answers first."

"Answers," Leo repeated flatly, confused again. "Answers about what?"

Karai's haughty demeanor seemed to wither, replaced by what looked like discomfort. If Leo believed it could happen, he would say she looked embarrassed. "I want to know; why did you save me?"

"What?"

"Why did you save me?" Karai asked again. "Those times, in Beijing, on Bishop's train…on my father's ship…"

Leo's mind was trying to return to thoughts of his family, but he knew if he thought about them, he would crumble. He couldn't afford to do that; he had to hold everything together if he wanted to avenge them. So he locked it all away with a silent apology to his family; because as much as he wanted to go to them, wherever they were, part of him needed this—this _closure_ with Karai.

"Leonardo?"

"I don't know," he replied abruptly. "My brothers—" His voice caught, but he pushed on. "They always ask—asked the same question. But…I don't know. I think it was because I—trusted you. Thought there was some _good_ in you." His tone was bitingly cynical. "And we see where that got me."

Something like pain flashed across Karai's features. "That is why? You—trusted me?"

"Yes. Because I'm a fool."

Karai flinched, then recovered. "You should be glad you're a fool, then, because that is part of the reason you're alive," she snapped.

Leo stared at her. "What the shell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about when I saved your life," Karai retorted.

"_You_ saved my life," Leo repeated, disbelieving. "When?"

"On my father's ship, when you and your family lay broken and beaten at his feet. My father was about to kill you, but…I stopped him. How else do you think we ended up in the hall instead of in that chamber with you? Did you think we just conveniently walked away?"

Leo thought his mind was probably about to break from all the strain it was going through in just one night. "Why?"

"Because…because it would have dishonored him. You were already defeated; I did not want him to be dishonored just for your deaths."

"Didn't want him to be dishonored? You're a few million innocent deaths too late for that", Leo said bitterly.

Karai went pale with fury. "How _dare_ you?!" she shrieked. "I knew I should have just let you die!"

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because I cared for you at one point," Karai blurted out. Her eyes widened in dismay immediately after that, and Leo had a suspicion that his eyes were just as wide.

For several long moments there was nothing but silence. Leo could hardly comprehend what Karai had just said, but he tried to anyways. Before he realized what he was doing, his mouth seemed to move of its own volition. "I think I may have cared for you as well."

Karai somehow managed to recover and cocked a neat eyebrow. "'May have'?" She echoed, struggling to hide her slight pain. "I see that you also have attached the past tense to that phrase."

"Yes." The word was less than a whisper as Leo stood there. In part of his mind, horror was welling up in him; had he actually _said_ that? It was something he had never said to anyone, something _no one_ knew about; something he hardly knew or had realized himself. And he was saying he cared about the woman who may have killed his family? But still…he needed to say these things. "Yes," he repeated, only slightly stronger. "But…I cannot care for you now, Karai, because I cannot trust you. You destroyed my home, you attacked my _family_, and you left all of that lying there like an open wound for me to find when I returned. And now…now _this_."

"Our families have _always_ been at war, Leonardo; you have little right to be angry with me when, given the opportunity, you would have done the same thing that I did."

Words of anger and denial quickly rose to his lips, but before they could be spoken, Karai's words sunk deeper into his brain. _Would_ he have done what she did? Invaded _her_ home with forces far greater than hers, attacked _her_ family when they were unprepared and unaware? Hunted each member of the Foot down until they were dead? The answer frightened him, because he had a sinking feeling that the answer might be 'yes'. To ensure his family's safety…to finally end the feud between their clans…suddenly it seemed that the sense of dishonor he saw in her actions may have been worth it to him, had their places been switched. "Maybe you're right," he said slowly.

"Maybe I am. But regardless, things changed that night, didn't they? Your…feelings for me changed that night." Karai grimaced, awkward embarrassment squirming in her gut; her voice and words sounded odd to her own ears. And yet, wasn't that excusable? Things such as feelings, especially feelings for each other, were things that she and Leonardo had never discussed before.

"How could they _not_ change, Karai? I have given you so many chances, tried to help you so many times, and each time you slapped away my hand. Then you attacked the one thing in the world that means most to me; my family." Leo's eyes became dangerously narrow. "That is unforgivable. I've killed people for that. And yet, _even after that_, I gave you _another_ chance. I warned you to stay away from my family, and you ignored me."

"And yet you constantly attack _my_ family without remorse, and you think yourself beyond reproach," Karai retorted.

Leo laughed. "Your family? Who, the Foot? They aren't your family; they're only your clan. You don't care enough about them for them to be your family."

Heat rose in Karai's cheeks. "How dare you presume to know who I care about?"

"I'm not presuming anything, Karai, merely going by what I see." The laughter died in Leo's voice, and he became serious. "If you truly thought of the Foot as your "family", you wouldn't treat them like you do. You send them out like pawns to face me and my family. I can't think of how many times we've left your soldiers dead or injured on rooftops, scattered around the city, and not _once_ have I _ever_ seen you show up to check on them, to see if they are okay. If you truly cared about them, you would work with them, train with them, try to make them better; you wouldn't leave them to be beaten by us every single time."

"You have no right to judge me—"

"Please don't try and pull that, Karai," Leo interrupted. "I know what you do, what kind of life you live. I know what it's like to have to lead, because I must lead my brothers. I know what it's like to have to take care of and protect your clan, even though mine isn't as big as yours. But you don't even make an effort to truly care for those who are in your clan."

"That is a lie," Karai snapped.

Leo leveled a hard look at her. "Fine, then prove me wrong. Tell me about the ninja you had with you when you attacked me and my brothers tonight."

Karai pulled back, confused. "What?"

"Tell me about them," the leader repeated. "What are their names? Who are they? What are their dreams? How far would they go for you?"

The young woman felt distinctly uncomfortable, but quickly latched on to the last question. "Any of my ninja would die for me."

"Why? Out of love? Out of worry for you? Would they give up their lives because they consider yours more precious, or merely because you demand it?"

"…They know their duty."

Leo shook his head sadly. "That's all the proof I need. The Foot is no family of yours, Karai, not with how you treat them. You cannot compare your assault on my family with me and my brothers fighting against you and the Foot to protect New York."

Karai glared at him for a moment, then spat and laughed mockingly. "I must thank you, Leonardo."

The turtle narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Thank me for what?"

"For reminding me. Each time I am away from you, it almost seems as though I could bring myself to let you and your disgusting family go. But then I see you again, with your arrogant belief that you and _only _you are right about _everything_, and it becomes so clear again why I still hate you."

"You still hate me because you know I am right," Leo said, quietly vehement.

Karai froze in her tracks. "Excuse me?"

"You know I am right about the Shredder, Karai. You were there at his trial; you heard the testimonies about the countless atrocities he committed. I'm the one that made you face those truths, and you hate me for it, because you would rather remember him as a father, as the man who taught you Ninjutsu. But he is not just the man who raised you; he is also a murderer who slaughtered millions of innocent beings." Leo narrowed his eyes, the look in them both regretful and cold. "The hand that guided you is the same one that shed oceans of blood. You cannot wash that away, Karai. You can't erase what he did. You can't forget what he did, or you dishonor the memory of those he destroyed; and for standing against him, they deserve more honor than that. No matter how many statues you erect to Oroku Saki, no matter how many speeches you give or libraries you donate in his honor, he is still the Shredder. Nothing can wipe that away; nothing but death can make up for what he has done." He continued without pause. "You hate me because I opened your eyes. I made you see the truth, but you refuse to accept it. You know that the things he did were awful, and you hate me because I made you become aware of that."

"No." Karai shook her head. "No. You are _wrong_. I hate you because you think you are always so right. I hate you because you tore my father from me. I hate you because this is all your fault!"

"How is it _my_ fault, Karai? Did I make Saki order attacks on peaceful planets? Did I put guns in his hands and force him to kill thousands of innocents whose only crime was standing in your father's way? Did I create the selfish, self-serving hatred and bloodlust and power-madness that lie within him? _No_. All _I_ did was warn you about him, and try to stop him from spreading like the plague he is, stop him from destroying the Utroms. Your father's capture, trial and punishment were all his own fault…not mine." He sighed, his shoulders sagging. "I…I have enough failures and shortcomings of my own to bear; I won't take the burden of his as well."

The stark and honest statement left Karai taken aback. "…I do not care about your burdens," she said at last, her expression both guarded and confused.

"I know you don't," Leo sighed. "And I don't expect you to. But _you_, at least, understand them. You understand what it's like to be responsible for the lives of others. You know what it's like to have to devote your entire life to a war that isn't even of your own making. You understand what a strain it is to life your life trying to please one person, and how much it hurts to fail them."

Karai fell silent. His words struck a chord in her; she knew she too carried each burden that he had mentioned…especially the last one. "Yes…I suppose I _do_ understand," she said softly. "It…it _is_ a difficult thing…living your life for someone else…"

Leo's eyes glanced up to meet Karai's. "What…what did the Shr—your father do when you…saved me?"

A hand rose up to her cheek as she remembered how lost she'd felt when her father had struck her. "He hit me…"

"He did?" Leo was quiet for several moments. "I am sorry for that," he said softly. "You shouldn't have had to deal with that."

The compassion in his voice infuriated her for some strange reason. "No, I shouldn't have, but I did; and all because I saved your life. I was dishonored in my father's eyes because of _you_."

"No." Leo shook his head tensely. "I told you, Karai, I will _not_ bear anyone else's burdens. No one else's guilt, or hate, or failure; I—I'm done taking responsibility for things that aren't my fault, things I can't control."

Karai's brows lowered. Leo's words and unusual behavior continued to confuse her. "Why are you acting like this, Leonardo? I have never heard you speak so…openly before."

A dark laugh forced its way out of Leo. "I wish I could say it was the drugs, but it's not."

"Then what is it?"

"Realization. There are many things in my life I have wished to say to you, and haven't. There are dozens of questions I've wanted to ask you, and haven't. I'm saying them now because I know I'll never get another chance to say them, and if I _don't_ say them, they'll just continue to eat away at me. We both know that this is the end. There hasn't been any way for us to go forward together for a long time, and now there is also no going back. One of us will die tonight, if not both of us…and dying with regrets is not something I want to risk."

Karai was silent for a moment, then spoke up hesitantly. "What—" Her voice caught in her throat, which was suspiciously tight all of a sudden. She cleared it briskly, then tried again. "What kind of questions?"

Leo smiled slightly at her query, then met her eyes, speaking softly. "Well, this is a rather common one: what is it about you? What is it about you that I can't get out of my head? What is it that always makes me come back and try again?"

"That is a question that I have also had. And if I knew what it was, in either of us, I would have destroyed it and made this easier on both of us."

Leo laughed cynically. "Oh yes, if only it had been that simple." He fell silent, the severity coming back into his face. "Though, seeing as how your belief in honor is one of the things that keeps bringing me back, and seeing as how that's what caused you to save me…I'm glad you didn't destroy it. But…you _are_ right…" He looked away. "It _would_ have made things simpler," he whispered, trailing off. A moment later, a dark laugh poured out of Leo's mouth. "They certainly did raise us well, didn't they?"

Karai lowered her brows, confused. "Who?"

"Them. Your father, my father; they raised us so damn well that we're willing to do whatever they ask of us. Never mind what _we_ want, never mind if it tears us apart inside, never mind if it means throwing away the one thing we actually want…" He locked his gaze onto Karai's, and the intensity of his stare sent shivers rippling down her spine. "We do what they want anyways. After all this time, all these years, they just pass their hate onto us, and we fight their battles for them."

"We would have fought regardless, Leonardo, even if our fathers had not taught us to hate each other."

Leo shook his head. "No, you're wrong. If we had met without their orders and hatred, as ourselves and no one's puppets…can you honestly tell me that you think we would have been enemies?"

Karai glanced away, discomforted by his question. He had hit on something she herself often wondered; if they had met under different circumstances, _would_ they have ended up where they were now? An uncomfortable sensation rolled deep in her stomach, because when Karai had thought about that very question, she'd come up with an answer: no. During the few times she'd allowed herself to dwell on dreams, she found it easy to picture a life with Leonardo in it…one in which he wasn't an enemy.

The blue-banded turtle must have read the answer on her face, because he smiled crookedly. "I didn't think so. I don't see us as enemies either…at least in another life."

His words brought Karai back to herself. "Yes, in another life…but this is _not_ another life, is it, Leonardo?"

"No…it definitely isn't." Leo put his face in his hand, sighing wearily. "I am so tired of this."

Leo's behavior and unveiled honesty was so unusual that Karai's curiosity got the best of her. "Tired of what?" she asked hesitantly.

"This," Leo said, waving a hand to encompass the two of them. "Everything. Fighting a war that never seems to end, always being forced to lose or give up something, having small victories that only come with terrible sacrifices…everything. I'm just so tired of it…so ready for it to be over."

Karai straightened, her armored hand clenching tightly. "And that is why we are here tonight," she said frostily, reminding herself as well as Leonardo. She could not let her guard down, could not let herself feel even a moment of concern at the sight of the pain of this…man, this person that was normally so strong; she had to remember who her enemies were. "To bring an end to things…through death."

"Yes…an end through death." Leo's eyes were dull. "It's fitting, I suppose; it started with death, and it will end the same way." He glanced at the sword in his hand, then looked up at the woman in front of him. "I'm sorry, Karai. For what was, for what could have been, and for this. I…don't know what it is about you, but this is not what I always wanted. At a time…yes, all I wanted was your death. And part of me still does. But in another part, I'm sorry it has come to this." Leo paused, struggling to gather his emotions. He met her eyes, then asked her a question that had haunted him for ages. "Are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Are you sorry that it came to this? Do you regret what has happened?"

Karai's eyes narrowed. "That is not what you are asking me. You are asking me if I am sorry for my actions." Her voice began to rise. "You are asking me if I am sorry for following the Shredder. You are asking me if I am sorry for following my _master_ and his orders, as _honor_ demands! No, I am not sorry! Not for that, _never_ for that!" She broke off, her chest heaving with the force of her emotions. But suddenly, she sagged, her shoulders slumping an almost imperceptible amount. "But if you are asking…if I am sorry for what has happened between us…then yes, I am sorry. I also never wished for it to come to this."

Leo's look was grave. "But only for that? You are only sorry for what we could have been? Nothing else?"

Karai met his gaze squarely, even though a tiny part of her heart cracked at the look on his face, the disappointment she saw there. "Only that. Nothing else." _I should not **have** to be sorry for anything else!_ a part of her cried.

Leo closed his eyes, pain flashing across his features. "And that is why I must do this, because you refuse to know anything but _him_ and his actions. I can't stand by and let more innocent lives be wasted, let more innocents suffer at the hand of another Shredder. Honor demands that those who can act, do." He raised his eyes, every emotion in the world seeming to be reflecting in them as he gazed at her. "Goodbye, Karai."

With that, he lunged and struck at her, forcing her backwards. As she put distance between them, he lowered his head for several moments, collecting himself. Leo knew he would have to be cautious. He had defeated Karai the last time they battled, and he knew she remembered that; he also knew that, armed with that knowledge, she wouldn't have challenged him if she didn't think she would win. This was not going to be easy…but at least it would be over. Leo looked up again slowly, drawing his second sword fluidly and sinking into a defensive stance. "Let's finish this, _Shredder_."

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Karai felt a part of herself turn to stone. Every emotion was gone from Leonardo's face. The look he turned towards her now was the same cold, expressionless mask of determination she had seen him direct towards her father countless times. _'Let's finish this, Shredder_'; his words rang loudly in her head. Not Karai; _Shredder_. She felt a strange sense of loss well up in her as she realized what significance his words had carried: she no longer existed to him as Karai. The woman who was a tentative ally, a fellow ninja, was gone; now she was only the Shredder: a killer, a dishonorable warrior…

An enemy. _His_ enemy.

That was what she had never had, Karai realized. That certainty. In Leonardo's life, there was no gray area, there was only black and white, honor and dishonor, right and wrong…but Karai had lived her life moving through shades of gray. Leonardo knew what he believed, knew the morals and values that he lived his life by, and stuck to them. But she had wavered. She had been torn between him and her master. She had been torn by the desire to please them both…why? Anger rose quickly in her heart. Why should she have had to please Leonardo? He was not her master; she owed him nothing. Why did she have to answer to him? She didn't!

And yet…for some inexplicable reason, his regard had always mattered dearly to her, almost as much as, and sometimes more than, her father's. But that was all past now. _Once the choice is made, there is no turning back. Once the choice is made, you can only go forward_. The words echoed in her mind, a small excerpt she had read once. Until now she had disagreed with the words, and why not? She had chosen to serve the Shredder, and yet had also changed her mind, aiding Leonardo and his brothers when she could. Guilt welled up in her. She had betrayed her master in her efforts to keep them both, to keep her father _and_ Leonardo near her…and now she had lost them both. Her father was gone, and she was now dead to Leonardo. The anger wrapped around her once more, joined by grief and frustration. _I have lost _everything_ now! The two people I cared for the most have been taken from me…My father and master…and now, Leonardo. _Karai narrowed her eyes as she too drew her sword. Her anger cooled into a frigid fire in her chest, filling her veins with ice and strength. _I will not lose. I will use my anger against him, not myself._ _It is because of Leonardo that I have lost everything…So I will make Leonardo lose everything as well. _As she leapt forward and collided with Leo, a stray thought wove into her mind, its simple truth striking her hard: _When there is nothing left to lose, the choices become much easier to make._

Then the time for thought was over, and there was room for nothing but motion. The two of them flew around each other, neither hesitating a moment, sparks flying as their swords rang against one another. Karai sliced at Leo, a move he blocked quickly, then came at him from low on his side with the claws on the back of her hand. Leo spun away, then darted back, his katana shrieking against Karai's armor as he struck at her, leaving slices in the heavy breastplate. It was Karai's turn to step back this time, then they clashed again.

The warriors raged against each other once more, swords flashing in the nighttime darkness. Advances and retreats blended together with spins and thrusts, and the only noise that resulted was the ringing peal of sword against sword. Not a word was spoken; both felt that everything possible had already been said. The two of them flowed through the battle, knowing the steps of the dance well…a deadly dance that was both beautiful and terrible in its ferocity.

Leo was the first to draw blood, in a double-bladed attack with his swords; with a slanting strike he managed to knock Karai's armor off, and his other katana came silently in the shadow of the other, slicing a cut into Karai's cheek. Her eyes flew open in shock, then burned with anger. She recovered quicker than Leo expected and darted past his defenses, laying open his right thigh with a strike from her katana. A hiss escaped Leo as his leg flared with pain. The slash had come dangerously close to the large muscles in his thigh, but had fortunately not severed any of them. He forced her back with a violent flurry of strikes, compelling her to retreat due to the reach of his swords, then tried to catch his breath and balance in the moment of peace his attack allowed him. The brief respite was quickly over; Karai flew back at him, and the pair once again traded hits.

Their dance continued, taking them all over the rooftop. Leo gritted his teeth; his leg was burning and bleeding heavily from all the movement. He had to divide his attention between Karai and the surface of the roof in order to ensure that he didn't slip in his own blood. After faltering once, Leo pulled back, drawing Karai away from a section of the roof that was becoming slightly slick from the blood running down his leg. Karai refused to let him regain any advantage and lunged forward again. Already moving back, Leo took another step and stumbled as his foot connected with Karai's abandoned helmet. The moment of uncertainty was not one Karai wasted. Darting forward, she ensnared Leo's swords with the claws on her hand, then brought her sword up. A bright flash of triumph flared within her, and she drove her blade towards Leo's chest.

"_You want to kill me? Go ahead; I won't stop you."_

Leo's words suddenly echoed through her head, disorienting her as the present blended with the past, bringing with it memories of the time Leo had trusted her not to kill him. With her blade mere inches from his heart, she halted. She still could not bring herself to kill him. Despite the fact that her hatred had only grown since the first time they found themselves in this position, the truths that they had revealed since then made it even harder to strike Leonardo down. After an agonizingly long minute, Karai finally brought herself to lift her gaze to meet Leonardo's, and what she saw there destroyed her.

That damned look of his was there in his eyes again, that _belief_ in her. It was that look that made her falter every time; and, frighteningly enough, it was backed by the glimmer of something that looked far too much like affection for her comfort. Despite everything she had done to break it, the small belief that she could be redeemed still remained. And she hated him for it.

That trust made her want to earn it. That look of faith made her want to be who he wanted her to be. But she could not do it. Why did it have to be _her_ that was wrong? What was it that made _him_ right? It had finally come down to this choice…Leonardo or her father. She could not think about it being a choice between good and evil, right and wrong…for who could truly draw such lines in a case such as this? Part of her sneered at her weak excuse, but she ignored that part. This was the only way she could manage to make a choice. Who would have her loyalty? Leonardo, or her father and master, the Shredder? Would she change, _again_, to suit someone else?

…No. No, she would not; damn them all, _she shouldn't have to!!!_

She chose her father. And if that made her evil, so be it; at least the choice was made. She gripped her conviction as tightly as her sword and lunged forward, finishing her weapon's trip to Leo's heart.

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Leo gasped as the blade struck him. However, instead of penetrating his body, it skidded across the thick surface of his plastron; without any velocity, Karai's blade couldn't pierce straight into his heart.

But that didn't mean it couldn't still wound him.

The sword slid down and to the side, slicing along the upper left scute of his plastron until it slipped off the body armor and lodged deep in his left side…deep in the unprotected flesh between plastron and shell.

Leo hissed and choked, much as he had the first time she had stabbed him. The pain of the strike drove him to his knees, his movement tearing the weapon from Karai's grip. He dropped his own katana, the blades clattering to the rooftop. A strangled cry forced its way out from behind his teeth. The pain was coming in waves, pulsating through his body from the sword's entry point and burning every nerve in an instant. It was too much…too much pain, too much blood…too much feeling! He could _feel_ the blade, feel the cold metal inside of him, feel where it was scraping against his ribs. Heat covered him, flowing from his side. The sword was now eliciting fiery screams of agony from the nerves that resided there, nerves unused to such abuse. Blood began to leak from around the steel, trickling down his side. But suddenly, amidst the torment tearing through him, another sensation quickly took precedence: the feeling of cold steel against his neck. Leo froze, holding himself as still as he could, and glanced to the side. One of his own katana was in Karai's grip, resting gently against the side of his throat, the sharp edge making itself known on his skin.

_Shell, I almost hope she uses it…_The thought floated through Leo's mind, fueled by the raw, overwhelming pain in his side. He shook himself mentally, pushing the thought away with all the strength he had left. Leo glanced at the wound in his side again before he looked back up at Karai.

She stood above him, her face expressionless, though her eyes spoke of inner turmoil. Karai glanced at Leo's side, at the blood flowing from his wound, then met his eyes. "I told you I was going to kill you, Leonardo. I think now would be a good time."

With all the emotions flowing from his heart and mind, as well as the newly reopened wound of Karai's latest betrayal, Leo could only manage one question.

"So I guess this is how you treat everyone you love, huh?"

His voice was soft and ragged, and the anger, pain and disappointment in his words shattered Karai's resolve into pieces. She stumbled back from him, the katana making a scratching noise as it slid against his rough skin and away from his throat. The _kunoichi_ swallowed hard. Leo didn't know how deeply the question cut. He also didn't know how hard it was to find an answer.

"This—this is how I treat enemies."

"Enemy…" Leo smiled slightly, the expression melancholy. "When _did_ I first earn that title?"

This question was easier to answer, allowing her to fall back on her anger, her constant companion of so many months. "When you banished my father."

"Why? Why have you _always_ chosen him, even when you _know_ in your heart that he is wrong? Why did you choose him now?"

Karai looked away; he honestly wanted a reason, wanted to know why she had done what she had. That broke her, because she knew that she couldn't give him an answer, mainly because she had no firm answer herself; at least, not a good one.

"I did it because…"

_Because it's what I've always done…_

_Because I don't think I'm strong enough to love you…_

_Because if you're gone, then there's no one to tell me that I'm wrong…_

_Because if you're weak, I don't have to think about spending forever in your arms in order to find strength…_

_Because it was easy…easy to hurt you like you hurt me…_

"Because I had to. You kept telling me I had to choose, so I did." She met his gaze defiantly, an angry, lost look in her eyes. "But it's not the choice you wanted, is it?"

Looking down at the torn flesh and dripping blood on his side, grimacing at another heavy wave of pain, Leo felt his mouth curve into a sardonic smile. "No, I can't say that it is." He raised his eyes to hers once more. "I read a quote in a book once, which was said by a very wise man: 'The time is coming when we all must make the choice between what is right, and what is easy.'" He smiled sadly. "I think we have both reached that time. You have chosen what is easy, and I…I have to choose what is right."

Before Karai could respond, Leo grabbed his katana and lunged forward, driving the blade through her armor and deep into her stomach. She gasped, her eyes flying wide open. Leo winced as the blade in his side tore at his flesh even further, but kept hold of his sword. Karai stared at him wonderingly, her hands unconsciously gripping his sword where it emerged from her abdomen. There was a look of fear in her eyes, and they both knew why. The gut strike was used in _seppuku_ for a reason:

It always worked. Sooner or later, it would kill anyone.

Karai fell to her knees, bringing herself to the same level as Leo. It would have been an odd sight for anyone to see; two figures kneeling on a rooftop, both with swords pierced through them, both bleeding, both lost and confused…and both unable to look anywhere but at each other.

The two figures remained that way for some time, until Karai broke the silence. Her eyes contained a challenge as she echoed Leo's words back to him. "Why?"

Leo could do nothing but respond in kind. "Because I had to. For my family, for the other lives you might have destroyed…"

"For yourself?" Karai asked, her eyes sad and angry.

"No." Leo shook his head, pain and sadness visible in his every move. "This is not something I would ever do for myself. I would kill to protect my family and myself, but I would never kill someone just because it was my will." He stared into her eyes. "Especially not you."

Karai gritted her teeth, trapping a harsh scream before it could leave her lips. She held Leo's gaze as they both attempted to ride out the throbbing pain of their wounds. "So this is it."

Leo's expression was pained, though this time the agony was more emotional than physical. "You have to believe me, Karai; _I didn't want this_."

"But you still went through with it."

"I had no choice. I asked you if I could trust you…and I got your answer." He looked meaningfully at the sword embedded in his flesh.

That was all that Karai could take. The fact that he still did not hate her, even after all this time, was her breaking point. She screamed at Leo. "Why?!"

He pulled back slightly. "Why? Why what?"

"Why? Why have you trusted me for so long? Why don't you hate me? It would have been easier if you had just hated me!" She ended her words in an angry gasp, gritting her teeth at the pain in her stomach.

Leo looked at her, his face a mass of emotions. "I…" He dropped his gaze. "I don't know," he whispered. "I think…I think I did hate you at one point, but now…I don't know. I don't trust you—but I also don't hate you. It's just—I just can't. All I know is that I've always thought there was something in you that was good. I _know_ there is; you've shown it before, you just insist on burying it. I hate failing, I hate not being good enough…I think that's why I kept trying to reach you. I just kept convincing myself that I could save you. I couldn't stand the thought that I might not be able to."

"I do not need saving," Karai snapped.

"No," he said quietly. "Not in a battle. You could always match anyone in battle. But you needed saving. The life you lived, are still living, under the control of the Shredder is a sham of a life. You should respect and love your master because of who he is and what he has taught you. Neither of those emotions should be felt out of fear or a sense of debt. I know that you think you owe Saki your love and respect for giving you a life, but you don't. He benefited from taking you in just as much as you did." He swallowed hard, fear pricking him slightly as the coppery taste of blood rose in the back of his throat. _How much damage did her sword do to me?_ "It feels odd to say this, but I suppose I should thank him; if he'd never adopted you, we never would have met."

Tears began to gather in Karai's eyes at his words; angry, bitter, sad tears. "I never wanted this, Leonardo. I can tell you that truly, just as I can swear that I wish we had ended differently."

"'We'?" Leo asked, echoing her words. "There was a 'we'?"

Karai met his gaze. "You know there was. It might have been small…and it might be gone now…but at one point, it was there. I don't know…_what_ we had…but there has always been…something between us." Her words came in gasps as she struggled to breath through her pain. "That…is what made all of this…so difficult. I think that is why…it had to come to this."

"I think you're right."

Karai nodded. She then coughed harshly, blood staining her lips as it flew from her mouth. Fear once again seized her features as she looked at Leo.

Her expression pulled at his heart. He didn't, couldn't see an enemy at that moment, only a young woman whose eyes clearly said '_I don't want to die_'.

"I'm sorry, Karai," he whispered, not trusting his voice to speak any louder, "but I have to remember my family. I have tried so hard, so many times to reach you…but nothing came of it. This is the last thing I wanted, but…"

"But apparently…our ending was inevitable," Karai finished for him.

Leo fell silent. He looked down at his side and gently lifted one of his katana, holding the blade gingerly in both hands. Keeping his eyes firmly on the weapon, he spoke softly. "If you wish it…I will grant you a warrior's death, Karai. Despite everything, you have earned that." He could hardly get the words out, choking on the hatred he felt for himself as he spoke.

"Thank you, Leonardo…but no. This _is_ my warrior's death. I will fall…_have_ fallen in battle." She squeezed her eyes shut, riding out another wave of pain, before gazing at her wound. "Besides…this is as close to _seppuku_…as I have the courage to come."

Leo lifted his head, taking in Karai's current state. "_Seppuku_? Karai, what do you have to atone for?"

Karai smiled bitterly. "Of all people, I would expect you to know the answer to that, Leonardo. I need to cleanse my honor for betraying my father, and…you."

The blue-banded turtle shook his head. "No, you don't. Karai, war blurs a lot of lines. You…you were placed in a bad position, pulled on from both directions. The past is over; just let it go. It's…hard to do, I know, but it helps."

"I cannot. My past has made me who I am; it is all I know. I…I am not strong or brave enough to let it go. And I don't wish to."

"Karai, you are much…braver than you know. There are many who would have…crumbled under the strain of the life you lead," Leo said, his breath growing more ragged. He tried not to groan, but the pain in his side was quickly blocking out all other thought.

Karai speared Leo with a firm look. "Can the same not be said about you, Leonardo?" Leo sat very still, taken aback by Karai's question. She smiled weakly and continued. "It is ironic, is it not? That it has taken…death for us to let go of things. It has taken death…for us to…love each other. It has been…an honor and a privilege…to know you." Karai's expression was firm and composed as she bowed slightly, though her eyes still held a myriad of emotions.

"It has also been my honor to know you, Oroku Karai." Leo bowed back, then hissed and gripped his side, the movement aggravating the sword still lodged there.

"Leonardo…" Karai reached out, trying to comfort him. Their past was easy to forget in this moment; even though she was the one who had caused him pain, she still wanted to ease it now. But before she could reach him, she collapsed, blood pouring faster from her abdomen. Despite the pain it caused him, Leo caught her and lowered her to the rooftop. He held her as the crimson fluid quickly stained the concrete. Karai trembled all over, but struggled to speak. "I won't ask…for forgiveness…I _won't_. I s-shouldn't…shouldn't have to. But please…stay with me until…"

Leo cut her off. "I'll stay until it's over, Karai. I swear it."

Struggling, Karai pulled off one of her gloves, then reached up towards Leo's face. Leo gently took her hand. "No," she said, shaking her head and pulling weakly at her hand. "Please…let me touch you."

Surprise crossed Leo's face as he released her hand. "What?"

"I want to touch you…please. There is…there is no one to see." Her voice was weak and slightly dreamy as the blood loss and pain gained control of her system. "We can…we can love each other now…now that no one is watching us. P-please?"

The blue-banded turtle swallowed hard against the lump lodged in his throat and released Karai's hand. He didn't say a word.

Karai smiled slightly, then softly placed her hand against Leo's cheek. "You're so warm…I did not expect that."

Leo managed a small grin. "That bugs Don sometimes too," he admitted.

A slight chuckle left the kunoichi. Her hand continued across Leo's face, tracing his features, then dropped to his chest. She carefully followed the outlines of his plastron, keeping her eyes on the contours. Karai's hand drifted towards Leo's left shoulder, her fingertips resting for a moment on the scar left by her sword, then reached further to ghost over the torn and ruined part of Leo's shell. His breath hissed through his teeth, despite the feather-lightness of Karai's touch; the shell wound was still sensitive and painful. Sadness lit in Karai's eyes and she withdrew her hand, resting it on Leo's chest as she looked back up at him. "We—we could have been…wonderful together," she said sadly.

Leo shook his head slowly. "Not in this life," he whispered. "In a different life, we might have had a chance. But not in this one. It never…it never would have lasted. We might have had a week, a month, a year…but sooner or later we still would have found our way to a bloody end on a lonely rooftop."

"I know…" Karai's eyes danced across his face again, followed by her fingers. "Why…why did this life create us to…complete each other…so well…if it was never to be?"

"I wish I knew," Leo murmured, hesitantly running a hand through Karai's hair. "Because I think if there was one person that I could kill for doing this to us…for fashioning our fates like this…I would. I wish I could have seen what we could have been."

A tear slipped down Karai's face. "So do I…" Blood erupted from her mouth as her body seized up, and she gripped Leo's hand weakly. "Goodbye…Leonardo. I am…sorry…for us…"

"So am I, Karai," Leo whispered.

"One more thing…have to say…" She coughed deeply, then relaxed. Her eyes drifted up to Leo's. "I do love you. Underneath my hate…I think I…always have…"

Leo closed his eyes in pain, both emotional and physical. "I know. When I let myself…I love you too."

Karai smiled slightly, blood staining her lips a deep red. Reaching up shakily, she placed a limp hand behind Leo's head and slowly drew him down to her. She closed her eyes and kissed him softly, tears gathering in her eyes as he responded to the kiss as well, emotions stirring in them both at the contact. Her hand fell from behind his head, and she sagged back in his arms, looking at him. "You taste…like pain," she whispered sadly, a ghost of a smile on her face. "I guess it…is true."

Leo gazed at the woman he held, the woman he…_loved?_...as pain of every kind lashed at his body and soul. "What's true, Karai?"

A single tear slipped from her eye. "Romeo…and Juliet…never…die…happy…" And with that, Oroku Karai, daughter of the Shredder, and the Shredder herself, died.

Leo remained where he was, rooted to the cold roof beneath him. Even after the light had dimmed and was gone from Karai's eyes, he stayed. Even after blood ceased to flow from her wounds, he stayed. It wasn't until the blood that he knelt in and the body that he held began to cool, that he moved.

The blue-banded turtle winced as he eased his grip on Karai, setting her down on the roof. He inhaled sharply as he leaned back; the pain from his side was making him sick. And the memories…the memories were only making it worse. He saw everything in a flash: the first time he met Karai; the times he had fought with her, fought against her; every time that he tried to convince her to leave the Shredder; every time his brothers had told him she couldn't be trusted; the time she stabbed him on the Shredder's starship; the time he hunted her down after she attacked his family and destroyed their home; and now, when he had kissed her, held her and looked her in the eyes as he watched her die…

It was more than he could take. Staring at her dead body, at the blood coating his hands and blades, he hunched over himself, wrapping his arms around himself. His body shook with tension and half-suppressed sobs._ Why? Why do I feel this way? She was a threat to my family, a liar, a traitor, the daughter and right hand of my greatest enemy…so why do I feel like this?_

A quiet part of his mind answered the question with uncomfortable accuracy. _Because she was also an ally, a fellow warrior, a fellow ninja, and the closest thing to a soul mate that you will ever know on this earth._ Leo raised his head again to look at Karai's body.

_Damnit…damnit!!_ For a moment, the barriers on Leo's temper broke, and his anger flared out. _That is a future I will never have the chance to know! I had something I never expected to have; the love of a woman. And we had to fight each other, and I had to kill her, because it was **right**, because it was **honorable**,_ he sneered to himself bitterly. _Because our fathers refused to let their hatred die. Damn **both** of you for doing this to us!_ A flash of guilt shot through him for his anger at his father and sensei, but the rage and pain churning within him quickly swept that feeling away. Leo's fist slammed into the rooftop's surface, and a sharp twinge in his side left him gasping for breath. _Of course it hurts, shell-for-brains, Karai's katana is still in you_.

Leo touched the handle of the sword gently. The wound still hurt more than he could imagine, and the bleeding still continued. He knew from the talks he had had with Don that it was better to leave the weapon in the wound until it could be properly treated; otherwise, he faced the risk of bleeding out. _Well, I have nothing to bandage this with, so it would be best to leave the sword there…_Leo glanced down at Karai's body, so pale and cold now, lying on the roof. _But Karai died a warrior, and she deserves to be buried with her weapon. Besides, there's no way I can move with this thing still stuck in me_. The decision made, he took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself and relax his muscles so it wouldn't hurt as much. Then, gritting his teeth, Leo gripped the handle of the katana and jerked it out of his side.

Nothing could have prepared him for the pain that the action caused. He screamed as the blade left his body, his stomach roiling from the sick sensation of steel grating against bone and torn flesh once again. Black spots danced across his vision, and dizziness slammed into him. The moment the weapon left his body he fell to his knees, vomiting from the pain.

_Oh shell…_Leo remained on his knees for several long minutes, shaking from the pain. _It…it didn't hurt this much…last time._ He stayed curled into a ball, hunched over himself and clutching his side desperately. Small thoughts flitted across his mind as he struggled to overcome the pain in his body. _The sword didn't stab me here last time…wasn't my sword, it was Karai's…dead, she's dead…this hurts **so much**…I guess Raph was right…_The last thought was an anchor that he clung to, that brought him back to himself. _Raph…oh shell! Raph, Don, Mikey! And Sensei…I have to go to them. I need—I need to go home._ Leo shook his head, trying to focus. Gathering all of his strength, he managed to force himself upright, dizzy with pain and exertion.

_First things first,_ Leo thought. _Try and stop the bleeding, or I'll be going nowhere and doing nothing_. Moving carefully, he worked the knee pad on his right leg up to his thigh and placed it over his wound, covering the deepest part. He then secured the pad as tightly as he could, stopping when the pressure made him wince. _There. That'll keep that from being a problem, but as for my side…_

The stab wound still throbbed with pain, and continued bleeding at an alarming rate. Grabbing his other knee pad and leaning back against one edge of the building, Leo pressed down on his wound. The steady throbbing in his side immediately erupted into blinding pain, and black spots threatened to darken his vision. Leo gritted his teeth and held on, struggling to remain conscious and keep pressure on the wound. After what seemed like an age, the pain receded into a dull pounding again, and he relaxed against the building.

Looking above him, Leo watched the stars come out. It was an unusually clear night, especially for New York, and more than the normal handful of twinkling lights glittered in the night sky. The normal sounds of the city came to his ears, now that the battle was over. Leo's eyes began to flutter, his eyelids slowly sliding shut. _I'm just going to rest for a couple minutes…just long enough to get my strength back…_His breath slowed and evened out, and his head nodded. A small voice in the back of his head clamored for his attention, warning him not to go to sleep, but the fatigue pulling at his body quickly drowned it out. Seconds later, Leo sagged into the support of the building's wall, lost to the power of his exhaustion.

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Leo woke with a jolt as his hand slipped from his side, falling into his lap. Glancing around in a panic, he quickly realized where he was. _Damn…I can't believe I fell asleep_. He took stock of his surroundings, relieved to realize he must have only slept for about ten or fifteen minutes. Grimacing, he slowly worked his way to his feet. It took a while, and not just because of his fatigue and blood loss; the night had cooled significantly, and Leo found himself trying to move muscles that he didn't know could _get_ stiff. Struggling with his belt and knee pad, he managed to fashion a way to keep the pad over his wound. The bleeding had slowed, but still continued. The only thing he could console himself with was the fact that the brief rest had recharged him slightly.

Glancing to the side, his eyes fell on Karai's body. She lay in the same place, her armor shining dully, the city lights reflecting off of the blood that pooled around her. Crimson stained the entire midsection of the body of armor, and splattered across other parts of it as well. An inexplicable hatred rose up in Leo suddenly; all of his fury and hate seemed to attach itself to that armor. In his strained mind, the armor suddenly became everything the Shredder was, and a strange compulsion overcame him.

_Get the armor off of Karai. The armor makes the Shredder; get it off of her, and bury her as the woman you loved, not the Shredder._

_Bury_ her?

Leo's mind balked at the idea. _No, I can't…no. Even if I wanted to, even if I had the strength to do so…she belongs with her clan. Despite who and what they are, they should be the ones to lay her to rest._

But he would not let them bury her in that outfit. He didn't care if she _had_ been the Shredder; he would not let his last memory be of her in that _tainted_ armor.

Moving slowly, Leo moved over to kneel by Karai, and began removing the armor from her body, reassembling it a little ways away. He had to take several breaks, wearied by the fight, his blood loss, and his attempts to keep his pain at bay. _A warrior is stronger than his pain_, he lectured himself, repeating the lessons he'd read in so many books as he removed Karai's gauntlets and shoulder armor. _A ninja can overcome the limitations of his own body. Pain is only in the mind…_A sharp, biting flash of agony shot through him when he reached farther than he should have. Leo's breath hissed between his teeth as he fought to keep from yelling. Placing his hand over the pad on his side, he grimaced. _Bull**shit** it's only in the mind_, he snarled to himself, the pain loosening his grip on his temper. He hated being weak and helpless; those two scenarios were among the few things that could truly cause him to snap. Taking several deep breaths, Leo calmed himself and returned to his task. _I don't have the time or strength to throw a temper tantrum_, he reminded himself. _That will have to wait until I get home_.

Reaching over, Leo grabbed the final piece of Karai's armor; her helmet. He held it in his hands for a moment, briefly reliving the memories that had become attached to the object; the morbid triumph when he'd thought he'd decapitated and killed the Shredder, the horror he'd felt when he saw it during his ambush, the confused disgust when he'd used it to defend himself in the Hall of Past Champions at the Battle Nexus. For a brief moment he was consumed with the desire to throw it off the side of the building, but he managed to control it and set the helmet atop the rest of the armor.

Karai now lay in the simple black outfit that Leo had been accustomed to seeing. He grabbed her sword and carefully worked it into one of his sheathes along with his own blades; it was a tight fit, and he'd probably end up with a few new scratches on his katana, but he had no other way of carrying the third sword. Once the weapon was stowed away, Leo gently worked his arms underneath Karai and stood, grunting as her body settled into his grip. She weighed less than he'd expected, but her extra weight was still another burden that his aching muscles _screamed_ that he didn't need. Leo ignored his body's complaints, pushing his pain as far away as he could. His leg had stopped bleeding, and even the bleeding from his side was miraculously beginning to taper off. _They'll both most likely start back up once I start moving_, Leo thought with a grimace. _But there's nothing for it. I need to get home…and I won't leave Karai here_.

Before he could talk himself out of it or think about how much it would hurt, Leo ran for the edge of the building, leaping for the next rooftop. He landed heavily, Karai's extra weight throwing him off and pulling painfully at his thigh. Biting back a moan, he kept going, struggling to keep up his speed; with the burden he carried, he needed all the help he could get to ensure that he bridged each gap between buildings. The trip soon began to blur together into one mass of pain as he traveled the rooftops, falling into a long pattern of agony; run with strength he didn't have, push off with legs that trembled, land gracelessly as his injured leg threatened to give, regain his balance and stumble on to the next roof. Several times Leo nearly dropped where he stood, but his will managed to carry him on. He didn't dare stop, not even to rest, because he knew that the moment he did, he would want nothing more than to fall asleep…and never wake up. After what seemed like years, he finally reached one of the buildings surrounding Foot headquarters.

Leo halted on the rooftop, his chest heaving. The only other time he could remember hurting this much and having pushed himself this far was when he'd been ambushed. He eyed the gap between his current building and the Foot skyscraper. _There's no way I can make that…not in my condition._ Glancing down at Karai's body, he grimaced. _I'm sorry, Karai, but this is as far as I can take you._ As carefully as he could, he knelt and placed Karai gently on the roof. Leaning over, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, then laid her head down. "Goodbye, Karai."

He stood slowly, stumbling as the world spun around him. His body was in full rebellion now, refusing to take any more abuse. _I…I've gotta…get out of here_. Leo was able to focus on that thought, and limped over to the fire escape. Every single part of him felt like it burned with the pain radiating from his side, and it seemed like an age before he managed to get himself over the side of the building. Leo glanced back once, seeing Karai lying on the roof, and closed his eyes. _Goodbye, Karai. Our feud is over…now let's see if it's going to take both of us with it._

Step by agonizing step, Leo made his way down the side of the building, clinging to the fire escape and resting on each landing. When his feet finally touched the ground, he nearly collapsed, weak and trembling with fatigue. He leaned against the wall, breathing heavily and trying to find the strength to move again. _I have to keep going…I have to get away from here. I have to get home_.

Clinging to that one thought, Leo slowly cast himself into a meditation trance, withdrawing into his mind to try and find some shelter from his pain. He knew there was no way that he could make it home as he was; he was in far too much pain and was much too tired. However, his body could still carry him home. Eighteen years of training his body had shaped it into the best tool it could be, and he had long since mastered it. Silence, stealth, and staying in the shadows were all things he had lived for years; they were nearly as automatic as breathing. They were all programmed into him, and his body remembered the motions. He would get home somehow. Before his mind severed the last connections with his body, he sent it an order; _get home_. Leo sent his last thought echoing through every part of his body, then slipped into the shelter of his mind.

Moments later, a quiet wraith drifted through the alleys of New York, making no noise, blending into the gathering darkness….a trail of blood the only sign of its passing.

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Leo staggered along a back alley, stumbling over a piece of debris and into a wall. The motion jarred him out of his trance and the pain rushed back into every corner of his mind, leaving him hardly able to think. Panting desperately, he paused for a moment, leaning against a dirty wall. He looked down at himself, trying to take stock of his injuries. More bruises and scratches than he remembered getting dotted his figure. Blood continued to trickle from around the pad on his side and still oozed from the slice on this thigh, both wounds aggravated by his excessive movement. As though triggered by his thoughts, sharp twinges from both his side and leg nearly drove him to his knees.

_I've got…to get home…_

Stubbornly clinging to the wall, he glanced around dizzily, trying to get his bearings. What he discovered wasn't reassuring. _Ninth Street…I've only made it five blocks from Foot headquarters…_Leo slumped against the wall when he realized what that meant. _I still have three blocks to go…to get back to the Lair._

Leo had just decided to find a quiet alley to rest in when the barest whisper of a premonition caused him to whip around. A mere five feet away from him were two Foot soldiers. The ninja were moving quickly around the alley, looking behind trash cans and dumpsters, their movements speaking openly that they were searching for something. Leo's heart sank. _They must have found Karai's body. They're looking for **me**_, he realized. _And if they find me, I'm in deep shell._ Moving as quietly as he could, Leo began backing towards the nearest intersecting alley. But in his efforts to keep an eye on the two ninja, he accidentally brushed against a trash can. The two Foot soldiers whirled around at the sound, and their eyes narrowed at the sight of the turtle in front of them. Swords immediately appeared in their hands as they approached.

"_You_…" one of the soldiers growled. Leo started in surprise; he had never heard any of the Foot actually speak before. "_You_ killed Mistress Karai. _You_ caused Master Shredder to be banished. _You_ are to blame for countless downfalls in our clan."

Leo slowly began moving his hand to his belt as he watched the soldiers carefully. "What can I say? I guess I just…like to stay busy."

The other ninja snarled. "Then allow us to help you with that. We will keep you _very_ busy as we carve you into pieces. Then we'll use your worthless corpse to draw out the rest of your pitiful family…if any still remain. That way, you can stay busy even after you die."

The turtle narrowed his eyes, trying his best to focus through his growing pain and fatigue. Adrenaline began to pump through him in anticipation of the inevitable fight ahead of him, but even that only took the edge off of his exhaustion. "You will die…a _thousand_…of the most _painful_ deaths I can give you…before you will even _touch_ any member of my family."

Both ninjas laughed, and the second ninja spoke again. "If your words were more than an idle threat, then perhaps we would be worried. But from the looks of things, turtle, you have less than nothing left."

"I've got enough left…to kill the two of you," Leo promised darkly. With that, he pulled two shuriken out of his belt and flung them at the ninja.

The tiny bladed stars hit their marks with easy efficiency, years of training still managing to take precedence over his exhaustion. One shuriken landed in the upper thigh of a ninja, and the second in the side of the other. Both ninjas hissed in pain at the contact.

"That was _very_ poorly planned, freak," one ninja snarled, grimacing as he yanked the shuriken out of his thigh and discarded it on the ground. "Not only was your "attack" useless, you just made things even worse for yourself."

"Nothing is always…as it appears," Leo retorted. He panted for a moment, dismayed at how much energy even the simple action of throwing the shuriken had cost him. "Tell me," he continued when he had regained his breath, "how do you feel?"

The other ninja snarled at him as he removed the throwing star from his side. "That has nothing—" He broke off suddenly, staring at Leo for a long moment. His mouth worked silently, as though he couldn't think enough to speak. Then without any warning, he fell to his knees.

The ninja's comrade stared at him in shock before his legs crumpled also. "What…?"

"Poison…" Leo whispered, leaning against the wall once more. "Your clan isn't the only one…with special shuriken. The poison will…atrophy all of your muscles…and kill you…as soon as it reaches your heart. It's a little creation of Don's…he whipped it up when…he was bored one day."

"You are g…gu-ng—" The first ninja to fall never got any farther before he lost the ability to talk. His eyes continued to glare hatred, however, as he fell to his side.

"This won't help you…escape, freak." Leo turned to the second Foot soldier, his attention caught by the venom and hatred in the man's voice. "There are more of us out here…than you can imagine. You…will not ge-get farr…" The second ninja's voice failed as well, fury and a touch of fear twisting his features as he too fell to the ground.

"I don't have to get that far," Leo responded quietly. "Just far enough."

He stood silently as the poison made its way quickly through the bodies of the ninjas. Both ninjas' eyes were filled with terror as they lost all control over their bodies, jaws struggling to open in voiceless screams as the poison hit their hearts. Seconds later, all movement stopped and the men lay quiet, their glassy eyes reflecting the weak light shining from the streetlamp.

Leo sighed in relief, nearly collapsing from the strain of remaining on his feet. He turned, trying to continue home, but his legs gave out, dropping him to his knees. His body, pushed terribly beyond its limits, refused to go any further. Dizziness swallowed him, pulling at his mind, dragging him into darkness. He managed to drag himself forward a few more feet, then dropped his body into a shadowy niche formed by a building outcropping.

_Have to hide…_

_Have to get out of sight…_

_Can't…can't be seen…_

Shivers racked his body at the cold touch of the pavement, joining the tremors that already consumed his weary muscles. The pain swelled, and he curled into himself, finally succumbing to the agony plaguing his body and soul.

_It hurts…so much…_

_So much blood…_

Exhaustion slowly sucked away his remaining strength, sending his thoughts spiraling towards unconsciousness…but this time, he made no attempt to fight the encroaching darkness.

_I—I can't **take** this anymore…_

_Someone, please…_

_Help me…_

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**A/N: There's not really anything I feel that I can say after this chapter, other than thank you for reading, and please review. Oh, and even though everyone probably already knows it, that quote of Leo's is from the Harry Potter book, and is property of J.K. Rowling. I don't own it, I'm just borrowing it, please don't sue. Thanks, and take care.**


	7. Deals with the Devil

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own them. I own none of the characters of TMNT, turtle, human, rat, or otherwise. What I DO own is this story; the plot, the later characters, the storyline, the events, etc. 'Tis all mine! (I'm trying to make myself feel better. :D) Now on to the notes._

_Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! I hope the holidays were good to all of you; they were to me. I would also like to say this: THANK YOU!!!! Thanks to the wonderful fans I have (it's so cool to say that), I managed to place in two different sections of the FanFic competitions:_ _"What We Could Have Been" got 2nd (tied) for Best Drama and "Bleeding Heart" got 3rd (tied) for Best Accurate Portrayal of the TMNT. I can't tell you all just how much that means to me, and it was so cool to see my name up there. I really, really appreciate it. And while I'm in thanking mode, gratitude must also go out to my reviewers, who really made all the work I put into Chapter 6 pay off: **Aurora Musis Amica, RandomlyInsaneWhitePony, The Burninator Named Trogdor, Tristripe, Pi90katana, **and** Tewi.** Thank you so much for your support! And one more quick little note. I'm so glad that so many people liked Chapter 6; it was a monster to write, but I enjoyed it. Something I want to ask, though, is this: how many of you saw that coming? Huh? Huh? XD If you wouldn't mind throwing a little note my way, I'd love to know who was expecting Karai's death._

_And on to more notes! I'd like to apologize for the lateness of this chapter, but what with Christmas, New Year's, and holding down two jobs for a while, I really didn't have much time to update. I'm back now, though, and glad about it. And as for this chapter, I'm gonna explain it so that everything makes sense. Just as the last chapter was all Leo and Karai, this chapter will be all Raph, Don and Mikey, as well as some Splinter, Casey and April. This way I can get everyone covered. It will also kind of go back in time; as you'll be able to tell, it starts off with Splinter, Casey and April right after they get Karai's phone call. Then when the next "section" starts, there'll be another note to keep you guys on top of things. This chapter won't be as action-packed or angsty as the past few chapters, but it's necessary. Also, for any Don fans out there, he gets a special "CSI" spotlight gig in this chapter. :D You'll see what I'm talking about soon enough. Anyways, that's really all I can think of, so on to Chapter 7!_

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Splinter closed the Shell Cell with a heavy sigh, his eyes shutting under the weight of this newest problem. _Choose…I must choose between the lives of my sons. What father could make such a choice? To save one, I risk the lives of three. To save three, I abandon one to either torture or death, or both. And yet…and yet already I find that I am leaning towards a choice. Great Daimyo, how can I make such a choice?_

"Master Splinter?" April's worried voice broke through his reverie, barely suppressed panic in her words. "Master Splinter, what did she say?"

The ninja master collected himself, opening his eyes to find both humans nearby and watching him anxiously. He stood, grabbing his walking staff and heading for the garage. "Come. We must go now."

"Go? But Master Splinter, what's going on?"

"There is no time to explain now, Miss O'Neil. Please get the keys to the Battleshell. Mister Jones, please gather your weapons. I will explain on the way." Splinter could feel the confusion coming off of both of his companions, but they obeyed his orders. Soon all of them were seated and buckled up in the Battleshell, with April at the wheel. "Miss O'Neil, please go to the intersection of Hargrove and Prudence streets. And drive as quickly as you can."

"Alright." A hard glint came into April's eyes as she gunned the engine. "Hang on." The vehicle peeled out of the garage, and the trio was soon careening through the streets of New York. A silent minute passed before April glanced over. "Um, Master Splinter…?"

Splinter could easily hear the question in her words, and sighed. "Yes, Miss O'Neil, I shall explain now." He looked out the tinted glass of the window, his heart aching. "In her call, Karai informed me that she has my sons."

A muted curse emitted from Casey. "What else did she say?"

"She has given me a choice to make. She said that if we arrive at Hargrove and Prudence within ten minutes, we would find Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo, and we could take them and return home unmolested. If we do not arrive within ten minutes, or refuse to take them home, we would be killed."

April gasped. "But—what about Leo? Where is he?"

Splinter bowed his head. "I do not know exactly where Leonardo is, but I know that he will not be returned to us. Karai plans to…keep him."

"Oh no," April whispered. "Leo…"

The knowledge Splinter had shared caused the rest of trip to be spent in silence. After what both seemed like an age, and seemed far too soon, the three of them arrived at the determined building. April pulled into an alley, parking the Battleshell. They all quickly filed out of the vehicle and began to climb the fire escape.

"Hey Master Splinter," Casey whispered quietly.

"Yes?"

"Are we gonna have ta fight to get the guys outta there?"

"…I do not know, Mister Jones. But since I do not fully trust Karai's "good intentions", I would advise readiness."

The tall man slipped a golf club out of the bag thrown over his shoulder. "Gotcha covered," he promised darkly.

They made it to the top of the iron staircase and over the edge of the building's roof. However, as soon as Splinter turned around, his breath hissed in his throat and he felt his heart stop.

His sons lay motionless in the middle of the roof, and surrounding them on every other available inch of space were Foot soldiers. As Splinter watched, one stepped forward, walking towards them until he stood between Splinter, April and Casey, and the turtles. Splinter narrowed his eyes and spoke. "We are here for my sons."

"Your timing is fortunate, rat," the ninja observed carelessly. "You had only minutes left before we would have destroyed them. Although, depending on your choice, they may yet be destroyed. Their fates, and those of you and your companions, hinge on your answer. So tell me, rat; what will you choose? Will you take my mistress's generous offer and return home with your sons? Or will you remain here and fall to my sword? Answer quickly."

Splinter could almost feel his emotions aging him now that the true and final moment of his choice was at hand. He had already made his decision, and he knew in heart that it was the best he could do in such a situation…but indecision and fear still dried his throat, trapping the words in his mouth.

The ninja's eyes narrowed at Splinter's silence. He drew his sword, slowly moving it to rest threateningly at Don's throat. "Your answer, rat; now."

April's grip tightened desperately on Splinter's shoulder, her breath hitching in her throat. "Master Splinter…" she whispered frantically.

Her words broke the freezing hesitation upon Splinter. "We will accept your…offer. We will take my sons and return home." A sharp pang of guilt shot through Splinter's heart; in saving three of his sons, he was as good as leaving the last one to die. _Forgive me, Leonardo._

The sword remained at Donatello's throat. "Your word, sworn on your honor, rat."

Splinter met the ninja's gaze with blazing eyes, angered by the implied insult to his integrity, especially coming from such a dishonorable ninja as one of the Foot. "I swear on my honor that we shall return straight home from here."

Another moment passed before the weapon finally moved back to its sheath. The ninja bowed mockingly. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, rat. Do have a pleasant evening." A quick hand motion was dispersed through the crowd, and seconds later, only Splinter, April, Casey and the turtles remained on the rooftop.

A small noise of surprise emitted from Casey. "Wait, that's it? No fightin' or nothin'?"

Splinter sighed heavily. "No, that is it."

"So now what?"

The rat's gaze turned to his sons, lying silently on the rooftop. "Now we go home."

"Are you kiddin' me? Look at Raph and the guys! Those losers did somethin' to them, an' that earns 'em a butt-whooping in my book. Plus, what about Leo? We can't go home!"

April spoke up hesitantly. "I have to agree with Casey, Master Splinter; at least about the last part. We can't leave Leo, can we?"

"We must, Miss O'Neil. As I already explained to you, that is why all of this has happened. This was set up so that we could not make it home with all four of them. This was no favor from the Shredder; this was another victory of hers. If I chose to stay, I would be forfeiting all of our lives, and even _if_ we had defeated their forces, we would be no closer to finding Leonardo. The only choice that I could make was to save as many of my sons as I could, and return home. And by the time we do indeed return to the Lair…the battle will have begun, and we may very well be too late."

The woman's brows furrowed in confusion. "Battle? What battle?"

Splinter knelt beside Michelangelo, laying a gentle paw on his son's forehead. "What may be the last battle between our clans; Leonardo and Karai's final battle." He quietly filled Casey and April in on the rest of Leonardo's vision; though the two humans had been told earlier about the parts that concerned them, Splinter and the turtles had agreed to leave the rest out. But the ninja master felt that they now needed to know the whole truth. After finishing his story, he returned his attention to his youngest son. "Even without Leonardo's vision, I should have anticipated this. There has been far too much animosity between Leonardo and Karai, for the end not to come down to the two of them. I just did not expect for Karai to bring that end about like this. By forcing me to leave with only three of my sons, she is ensuring that her battle will be private and that there will be no chance for interference. Karai seeks to end our families' feud tonight. She is keeping Leonardo, and they will battle. And this time…it will be to the death."

"Oh no…" April knelt as well, gently taking Donatello's pulse while Casey knelt by Raph. "Then…what should we do?"

"The only thing we can do," Splinter replied sadly. "Take these three home…and hope for the best."

"But Master Splinter—" Casey protested.

"Casey, we have no choice," April said remonstratively, cutting him off with a sharp glance. "Master Splinter gave his word, and that binds us as well. Besides, even if we can't do anything for Leo, we can help the rest of the guys." She stood, a tight, worried look on her face. "Let's get them home."

The tall man sighed heavily and stood. "Alright, you two have a point." He shook his head. "Damn. Raph ain't gonna be happy about this when he wakes up. None of 'em will, but him most of all."

"I know, Mister Jones. I am not pleased with this situation either," Splinter said tiredly. _I only hope that they do not blame me as I already blame myself_, he thought.

"Well, let's get this show on the road," Casey said, bending down to hook his fingers around the rim of Raph's shell. Grunting, he tried to shift the turtle so he could lift him more easily, but his hand slipped, his fingers sliding upwards around the edge of the carapace. He winced instantly, pulling his hands back. "Ow! Damnit, that hurt!!" he swore, waving his right hand about wildly.

April glanced up in concern. "What's wrong, Casey?"

"It bit me!"

A blank look crossed the woman's face. "Come again?"

"Raph's shell bit me," Casey repeated.

April sighed. "Casey, turtle shells don't have teeth."

"Oh yeah? Then explain this," Casey said indignantly, presenting two bloody fingers for April's inspection.

The redhead's expression morphed into confusion as she gently took and looked over Casey's hand. "What on earth?" She then dropped his hand and moved over to kneel beside Raph. Repeating Casey's actions, she carefully ran her fingers along the inner rim of Raph's carapace, wincing as something sharp pricked at her fingers. April frowned. "There _is_ something back here." She shifted slightly to a better vantage point, then peered under the rim of the shell. Splinter and Casey watched as she worried at something for several moments, then finally pulled the object free. In her hand lay a small square of metal, a miniscule red light flashing methodically from its center. April gasped and raised her free hand to her mouth. "Oh my gosh…"

Casey and Splinter were beside her in a heartbeat. "What's wrong, Ape?" Casey asked anxiously. "Are y'alright? What _is_ that thing?"

"I—I'm fine, Casey. It's just…this, this is a bug. A tracer." She glanced up at her companions. "This was all a trap. Karai returning the guys…it was all a bigger trick than we even thought."

Splinter frowned, his tail lashing in concern. "What do you mean, Miss O'Neil?"

April gestured to the small tracker. "It's a trap," she repeated. "Karai must have had the three of them planted with these bugs after she drugged them, then she returned them under the guise of keeping us from interfering in her fight with Leo. That way, we would think that that was the only reason we were getting them back, and we'd be too concerned about them to worry about much of anything else. Plus, she waited until she got Master Splinter's promise that we'd take them back to the Lair. Again, we would have thought she did that just to keep us out of the way, and once Splinter gave his word, we would have had to return. And if we had…"

Casey paled as realization hit him. "Damn…"

The redhead nodded shakily. "We would have led them right to the Lair, and then…"

Splinter's whiskers quivered as he tried to collect himself, banishing thoughts of destruction and death. "Then history would have repeated itself, and we would have lost another home…and our lives."

The three of them were silent for some time, trying to recover from the near miss. Eventually April let out a deep breath, looking at Casey and Splinter with a shaky smile. "Well, let's look on the bright side; if Karai was willing to go through so much trouble like this, then at least we know that she still doesn't know where the Lair is."

An equally hesitant smile weakly curled up the edges of Splinter's snout. "We must always be thankful for the small blessings we get."

April nodded. "Alright, let's get these bugs off of the guys and get them home. I want to get those cuts cleaned out and stitched up before they get infected." The other two bugs were quickly located and removed, and April pocketed them carefully.

"What're you gonna do with those, April?" Casey asked as he moved the last of the turtles over by the fire escape.

A defiant look settled on April's face. "We're going to make a quick stop by the docks. Let's see how smart Karai thinks she is when her trackers show the guys somewhere near New Jersey, floating out to sea."

Casey grinned. "Sounds good ta me. Now let's get these guys outta here; we ain't been seen yet, but I don't wanna try our luck."

It took several trips to get the turtles into the Battleshell, but soon enough they had made their trip to the dock and were safely home. Finally everyone was inside, and April and Splinter went to work cleaning and bandaging the turtles' shuriken wounds in the infirmary while Casey prowled around the Lair.

"That is the last of them," Splinter said as he clipped off the end of the thread after finishing the last of Raphael's stitches. He leaned back with a heavy sigh. "And now all we can do is wait."

April and Casey nodded miserably. "At least the sedative doesn't seem to be affecting their health," April pointed out half-heartedly. "All three of them are breathing easily, and they all have strong heartbeats too."

Splinter couldn't help a small smile at the woman's optimism. "Small blessings," he noted, remembering their words from earlier.

"Small blessings," the two humans echoed.

The three of them glanced at each other, sharing more worried smiles, before turning their attention to the motionless turtles in front of them, taking up their silent vigil.

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The infirmary was quiet and dimly lit. After a while of stillness and silence from the turtles, Splinter and April had finally joined Casey in the kitchen to try and eat something. They talked quietly about nothing at all, all of them trying to think about anything but what they were going through. Unnoticed by them, small motions and sounds began to break the silence of the infirmary. Slowly but surely, the three turtles began to stir.

"Owww…aw, man, what crawled into my skull and _died_?" Mikey moaned, grabbing his head gently as he levered himself into a sitting position.

An echoing groan issued from Don. "Whatever it was, I think it left its cousin to rot on top of my brain."

"Don't…talk…so _loud_," a gruff voice snarled. Raph looked even worse than Don and Mikey, and apparently felt so, too. He worked himself into a standing position and swayed, his face dark. "I frickin' _hate_ bein' knocked out. When I get a hold of those jackasses, I'm gonna…gonna—" A queasy look flew over his face, and he wrapped his arms around his stomach. "I'm gonna be sick…" he groaned, stumbling out of the room.

He'd hardly been gone ten seconds when April's voice sounded from the hall. "Raph? Don? Mikey? Are you guys awake?" Her head popped around the doorway and a smile lit her face. "You're awake! We were so worried!"

Both turtles winced at the volume of her voice. "Please, April, not so loud," Don pleaded tiredly. "Whatever the heck the Foot dosed us with comes with a really unpleasant headache."

"Oh, sorry, Don," April apologized, dropping her voice to a whisper. "Wait…where's Raph?"

The sound of heaving came to their ears from down the hall. Mikey grinned ruefully. "Does that answer your question?"

Don sighed as he carefully sat up, holding a palm to his forehead. "It must be the sedative," he murmured. "Something about it probably messed up his system. I should do something—"

"What you should _do_ is stay here and rest," April said firmly, cutting him off. "Both of you. I'll get Casey to bring you guys in some food, if you think you can keep it down, and I'll take care of Raph."

"Thanks, April," Don said gratefully, happy to concede the issue. "It's…it's probably best to let him just get this out of his system. Most likely it's just a more unpleasant side effect of whatever it was we got dosed with."

"Is there anything in your lab that might help him?" April asked.

"Like an antidote? I don't think so; with sedatives, it's risky to put more things into a body if you don't know what's in the sedative. Maybe we could try—"

"Sake," a calm voice interrupted. The room's three occupants turned to see Splinter walk into the room. "Sake, or other spirits for that matter, can sometimes help in situations such as these." Reaching the beds, he smiled at the two turtles. "My sons, I cannot tell you how glad I am to see you awake."

"Prob'ly more than we are ta be awake, Sensei," Raph's voice said from the doorway. He offered a weary wave to his teacher and April. "Hey, Ape. Glad ta see the bonehead gotcha here safe. Now if you'll 'scuse me, I'm gonna go lie down an' die." With that he walked back over to the bed he'd been on and collapsed on it face first. His groan was muffled slightly by the pillow, but the misery in his voice was clear. After a second his head turned slightly to the side, and he looked around the room. He sat up as quickly as he could, glancing at April and Splinter. "Wait a minute…where's Leo?"

The smiles on their faces fell away, quickly adding to the sick feeling roiling in the pit of Raph's stomach. April caught her lower lip between her teeth, looking uncertainly at Splinter, who sighed heavily and closed his eyes.

"We…do not know, my son."

The room was silent. Raph got to his feet and stared at his father. "What?"

Splinter met Raph's gaze. "We do not know where Leonardo is, Raphael."

Raph was silent for several moments. A slight tremor shook his arms and hands as emotions raged through his body. At last he managed to speak, though his voice was black. "What happened?" The words were a growl, more of a demand than a question.

April explained quietly, telling the guys what had transpired since they'd left; the waiting, Karai's phone call, her demand, and now their awakening.

The three turtles were silent.

"We're gonna get him back," Raph snarled. "Now." Mikey and Don nodded and rose to their feet as well.

"No."

Mikey turned at Splinter's voice. "No?" he asked, his expression confused. "Sensei, we have to. Who knows what's goin' on out there."

"I will not have you going out there as you are now," Splinter refused firmly.

"We're fine," Raph protested. "If we wait any longer, Leo—"

Splinter darted at his second oldest son, aiming a strike at his middle. Raph immediately tried to step back and move into a defensive position, but wavered dizzily. The strike halted, culminating in only a slight tap on Raph's plastron. The hotheaded turtle glowered, fully understanding the implications of his father's actions.

"As you can see," Splinter said calmly, "none of you are prepared for the fighting that is almost inevitable tonight. You will stay long enough to recover, and then you may go. I will fetch some sake to hopefully help combat the sedative. Miss O'Neil, what would you suggest?"

April gestured for everyone to follow her into the kitchen. "I want you guys to eat something solid, and get a good deal of water into you too. Just rest while you eat, that's all the more downtime I want from you three."

The turtles filed into the kitchen silently, worry radiating off of all three of them. Anger and impatience flowed in Raph's wake as well.

Twenty minutes later, Splinter declared them ready to leave. As well as resting, they had placed a couple calls and come up with a plan.

"Alright, let's look at this one more time, just so we've got this down," Don said, glancing at the paper in front of him. "Sensei, you'll stay here in the Lair in case Leo comes back. Leatherhead said he would patrol around the sewers and keep an eye out for Leo, and Professor Honeycutt is going to do the same. April and Casey, you guys will hang out in the Battleshell in case we find Leo, and the three of us will go looking for him." He sighed, standing up and sliding his bo into the back of his belt. "Everyone make sure to keep your Shell Cells on."

Splinter looked at each of his sons for several moments. "Be careful, my sons. Take no risks that you must not take, and protect each other. Leonardo's warning of the death in his vision is still something to be wary of."

The three of them bowed, and Raph held Splinter's eyes firmly. "We'll bring 'im back, Sensei; I swear it. One way or another, we'll bring 'im back."

Splinter bowed his head as Raph's words seemed to echo Leo's from earlier that evening. "Go, my sons. And be careful."

Moments later, three more shadows were added to the darkness of nighttime New York.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The turtles traveled silently across the city, all of them feeling that the situation was too grave for words.

Mikey glanced around and spoke quietly when the silence began to get under his skin. "It's pretty quiet out here, isn't it? No Foot or anything."

"That's because they're all either waiting back at headquarters or out "following" us to the Lair," Don said, glancing down at his handheld tracker. "Alright, guys, let's get off the rooftops. We're going to head to the alleys for a little bit."

They dropped silently to ground level, threading their way through the alleys for a couple blocks before Don raised a hand and halted. They paused in the alley while Don checked his palm computer. After a minute he glanced up, considering the tall brick building beside them.

"According to the tracker I've got attached to each of our Shell Cells, this building here was Leo's last known position."

Raph frowned. "Whadda ya mean, "last known position"? You mean he isn't here now?"

Don hesitated, then shook his head. "I don't think so. The program I've got set up with the trackers on our phones constantly records where the signal comes from, and at what time. And according to this, about ten minutes after we got knocked out, Leo was here. But after that, the signal is lost; Karai probably destroyed Leo's Shell Cell so he couldn't call for help or be traced. But he _was_ here at one point, and that's the best we have to go on for now." Don sighed again and tucked the device into his belt. "Come on, let's head up and see if we can get anything else to go on."

The three of them silently scaled the building, and soon stood on the roof. As soon as they turned around to look at where they stood, the turtles were frozen in their places.

"Oh shell…" Don and Mikey spoke slowly in unison, their voices matched in horror and disbelief.

Raph, however, was a bit more expressive.

"Holy mother-lovin' shit…"

The rooftop was a scene straight out of every battle ever fought, reenacted on a smaller scale. Blood colored the ground in puddles and violent smears. Splatters of the crimson liquid dotted the walls, kept company by slices and chips in the brick. And there, lying right in the middle of the macabre display was the Shredder.

The three of them approached carefully, hesitant to walk through the scene of death. Mikey cringed and gripped Don's arm as his foot squelched through a puddle of blood. Upon reaching the pile of armor, Don pulled out his bo staff. Raph gripped his sai as the purple-banded turtle carefully reached out and tapped the metal suit.

_Clank_.

Don pulled back in surprise. "It's empty."

"Say what?" Raph stared at his brother in shock.

The purple-banded turtle struck the suit or armor again, listening to the hollow echo. "I said it's empty. The Shredder, I mean, Karai, isn't in there."

Raph shook his head as he holstered his sai. "No, ya had it right the first time, Don. Anyone wearin' this is the Shredder, an' that's all there is to it." Walking closer, he kicked the empty armor, before squatting down on his haunches beside it. He spent a few quiet moments examining the suit before he suddenly made a small noise of surprise. "Well, shit."

"What? What is it?" Mikey asked, shifting from foot to foot uneasily.

"I don't freakin' believe this. After all this time, all the crap we've gone through about the whole thing, an' he finally does it."

Don rolled his eyes. "Raph, the unenlightened turtles among us would really appreciate it if you'd fill us in."

Raph looked over his shoulder at his brother, a smirk lifting one corner of his mouth. "Leo finally killed Karai. An' dammit, I didn't even get ta see it."

Both younger turtles were shocked into silence. "What?" Don managed to say. "He did? Are you sure?"

The hotheaded turtle waved his brothers closer. "Unless Karai went suicidal and did this herself…" he gestured at a slit in the front of the suit of armor, "then yeah, I'm pretty sure."

Don ran a finger carefully across the sword mark. "Good point." He sat back and looked around the rooftop, then carefully levered himself to his feet. Moving slowly, he moved to a corner of the roof that was barren of any signs of the struggle. "Guys, can you come here for a second?"

Mikey and Raph glanced at each other in confusion, then shrugged. "Sure," they agreed, making their way over to join their brother.

Don nodded his thanks. "I want you guys to stay here for a couple minutes. I'm going to try and figure out what went on here."

Raph grinned. "Go to it, Detective Don."

The brainy turtle rolled his eyes. "Please don't make me have to hit you." He walked around the roof, stopping for long periods of time to inspect several different areas. He then made his way slowly around the bloody suit of armor, carefully avoiding stepping in any of the blood. When he came to a set of bloody footprints, he glanced up at his brothers. "Mikey, are these yours?"

"Um, yeah…" Mikey nodded sheepishly. "Sorry, Don, there's just kind of a lot of the stuff to try and avoid."

"It's alright," Don assured him. "I just wanted to make sure." He continued his route, stopping for several long moments on the far side of the roof. The turtle then retraced his steps and spent an even longer time examining the Shredder's suit. Just as the other two turtles began to fidget, Don joined his brothers at the corner of the roof.

"Well, I've figured out part of this, but not all of it."

"Figured out part of what?" Raph asked.

"This." Don waved a hand to encompass the scene around them.

Mikey raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Don nodded. "Okay, so here it is. The fact that Leo killed Karai explains some of our current location's appearance, but not all of it." He motioned for his brothers to follow him as he made another lap around the roof. "We know they were fighting, so that explains things like this," he explained, gesturing to scratches and nicks in the wall that were accompanied by small splatters of blood. "These are probably from when someone would attack, and the other person might have ducked or shifted, resulting in the dents in the walls; also, maybe they didn't duck soon enough, or shift far enough, and got a small cut." He walked back to where the armor lay, staying clear of the circle of blood. "This is a little stranger. Judging by the look of the blood here, how it spreads out in an arc of drops, this is where Karai got stabbed. And most of the blood is nearby, leading to the inference that she fell and possibly died near where she was hit. But the armor is over here, and other than the blood inside and the small amount that has seeped out, there's no blood."

Mikey and Raph both stared at Don, before the orange-banded turtle piped up again. "And that is important because…"

The brainy turtle rolled his eyes. "It's important because it tells us what happened. Karai got stabbed, and fell here," Don said, pointing at the largest pool of crimson on the roof, "but the armor is over here. With all the blood being in that spot, I'm almost positive that that is where she died. So how did the armor get over here?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Leo must have moved it. He's the only one who was here, other than Karai. And that brings us to the next part of this puzzle." Indicating to his brothers to kneel with him by the armor, he continued. "Do you see what's on the metal on the hands and wrists of the armor?"

Raph narrowed his eyes. "More blood. I'm sensin' a trend here," he noted sarcastically.

"Exactly. Now, logically, we've got to assume that most of this is Karai's. If you're stabbed at all, especially in a part of the body like this, it's a natural reflex for the hands to go to the site of the wound. This is an almost instinctual reaction, as the body tries to either remove the cause of the wound, or stop the bleeding, or both. That explains the blood on the hands and gauntlets of the armor. But the location and appearance of the blood patterns here," Don pointed at the blood on the armor's arms, near the biceps, "don't fit in."

Mikey stared at his brother blankly. "Um, why not?"

"They're splatters." When his brothers' expressions continued to show a lack of comprehension, Don sighed and elaborated. "Alright, Karai got stabbed, right? Right. Now, when major arteries are hit, the blood sprays outwards, away from the wound. This is because arteries transfer so much blood, and they're pressurized. It appears that when Karai got stabbed, Leo hit a major artery, which explains the large amount of blood both on the roof and in the armor. However, it doesn't explain the blood splatters near the upper arms."

Raph eyed the armor thoughtfully. "I think I'm followin' ya on this, Don. But couldn't that blood just be from Karai maybe reaching up to her shoulders fer some reason?"

"It could," Don conceded, "but there's no set shape. If she had, there would be a larger amount of blood, and in theory we'd be able to see maybe the semblance of a finger or hand shape. And like I said, blood sprays away from an arterial wound. It's nearly impossible that her blood sprayed up and towards her to hit that high on her arm." He stopped and glanced down, suddenly interested in the blood near his feet.

Something in Don's voice caught Raph's attention, and the red-banded turtle looked at his brother sharply. "So that means…"

"It's probably Leo's," Mikey finished in a soft whisper. His eyes were frantic as he looked at his older brothers. "He's not dead, is he?"

"Calm down, Mikey," Don said soothingly. "Hopefully it's just a light to moderate wound. If Karai stabbed Leo in the stomach as well, the blood on the armor would be lower. This is higher, so…maybe she caught him in the upper arm or shoulder. Worst case scenario, maybe he got stabbed in the side. But I know she didn't kill him during this fight."

"How can you be sure?" Mikey asked.

Don rose to his feet with a grimace, rubbing knees that were stiff from kneeling. "Come here." The three turtles walked over to the far side of the roof, where Don had spent several minutes during his inspection. Once he was sure he had his brothers' attention, he pointed at a set of bloody footprints on the rooftop, every single one having only two toes. "Do these look familiar?"

Both Raph and Mikey spoke at the same time. "Leo!"

"Right in one," Don agreed. "By the end of the fight, he was at least in good enough shape to walk away. But there's still something I can't figure out."

Raph raised an eyebrow. "Don, ya just managed ta practically recreate the whole frickin' fight. What the shell is left ta figure out?"

"Where Leo took Karai's body, and why."

"How do you know Leo took her?" Mikey asked.

"It's the only thing that makes sense. If the Foot had taken Karai's body, why would they leave the armor behind? Not only would it raise suspicion, but it's an extremely important object for them: the armor and weaponry of their late master. I mean, two late masters." Don opened and closed his mouth, looking exasperated and confused. "The armor of…never mind. Skip that. Anyways, there are only Leo's and Karai's footprints on this roof, and if the Foot had shown up, there would be dozens more." Don shook his head tiredly. "Which means we _still_ don't know what happened after this fight."

"Do you think Leo might have taken her to the Lair?" Mikey inquired. "I mean, not alive, but…dead? To…show Sensei?"

Raph shook his head firmly. "No way. Not only would none of us want her in there, alive _or_ dead, but Leo don't work like that. Even if it was the Shredder, he wouldn't do somethin' like hauling a body home like a trophy. Nah, Fearless always sticks with whatever is the honorable thing to do."

"'The honorable thing to do'…" Don nodded slowly, his expression thoughtful. "Well, Leo's always seen Karai differently than we have. So if he was considering her as a fallen comrade, the honorable thing to do is seek revenge on her killer, and make sure the body's properly laid to rest. We _know_ Leo wouldn't kill himself for killing her, so maybe…he decided to try to bury the body?"

All three turtles were silent for a while, trying to put themselves in Leo's shell, trying to figure out what their brother had done after the fight. Then Raph's eyes slowly widened. He whipped his head around to look at the Shredder's empty suit, then back at the bloody footprints in front of him.

"Shit!" The explicative burst out of Raph's mouth as he exploded upwards, on his feet in flash. "Dammit! That frickin' _idiot_!"

Don and Mikey quickly gained their feet as well. Mikey looked at his brother in concern, worry evident in his eyes. "What's wrong, Raph? What's the matter?"

"Leo! That's what the frickin' matter is!" Raph swore again. "Come on, we're leavin'!" Without another word, the red-banded turtle took off, quickly leaping onto the roof of the next building over. The two younger turtles had no choice but to follow him.

When they finally caught up with him, he was dozens of buildings away from the fight scene, crouching in the shadows of a business rooftop. Don walked up behind him slowly, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. Every muscle in his brother's body was so tense that the purple-banded turtle feared he might tear something. He knelt down beside him, giving Raph's shoulder a soft squeeze. "Hey, bro, what's wrong? What is it?"

Raph tensed up even more, if possible, and Don was tempted to lean back, fearing an explosion. But suddenly all the tension just drained out of the red-banded turtle. He sighed, running a tired hand over his face before looking at his brother. "Don, where are we?"

Don's confusion was evident. "Um, Raph, we're in New York City. We're on the roof of one of the engineering buildings downtown."

"That ain't what I meant. Look around an' tell me where we are. Tell me what's nearby."

Despite his puzzlement, Don nodded slowly and glanced around. Before too long his eyes fell on a familiar building across the street, and his hand tightened on Raph's shoulder.

"Foot headquarters," he whispered. Raph nodded and Don turned to look at him. "Raph, why are we here?"

"'Cause Leo is. Or was, at least, best as I can figure."

The purple-banded turtle sat down beside Mikey heavily. "Why on earth would he come here?"

"Like ya said, Don, Leo saw Karai differently than us."

"Yeah, stupidly," Mikey muttered, worry clearly showing on his face.

Raph grinned. "I ain't gonna argue with ya on that one, bro. But maybe Leo was thinkin' of her as Karai, not the Shredder."

Mikey looked up quickly. "That's why he left the Shred-head's suit on the roof, isn't it?"

"I'd bet my shell on it, Mikey," Raph agreed. "I'd also bet that's why he was here."

"But how do you know he _was_ here, Raph?" Mikey asked.

The hothead gestured off the side of the roof. "'Cause Karai's body's down there."

Don and Mikey shot over to the edge of the roof, carefully peering over the side. Sure enough, the still, black-clad body of Karai was lying on an empty rooftop that stood next to Foot headquarters, surrounded by a few Foot ninja. And more were approaching quickly.

Raph began easing away from the roof's edge, beckoning to his brothers as he made his way towards the fire escape. "Since Leo was caught up bein' 'Mr. Sensitive an' Honorable Ninja Turtle', he did what he thought was right; he brought Karai's body back ta her clan. After that, he prob'ly took off," Raph said softly. "I'm hopin' he was still thinkin' enough ta find some cover," he added as he dropped lightly into the alley.

"Maybe he's back at the Lair," Mikey offered.

"Mikey might be right," Don agreed. "All four of us were sedated at the same time, right? And I'm willing to bet that we all had the same strength sedative; Karai wouldn't have wanted to wait forever for Leo to wake up, but she wanted to make sure we were far enough away before we woke up. From what Master Splinter told me, and from my own guesses, we were out for about half an hour. That would be just about the perfect amount of time for Karai; long enough for her to prepare for the fight and make sure her flunkies got us "delivered" to Master Splinter. We came to at around 8:30, right? And it took a while for that stuff to wear off enough for us to be back to normal. Which means Leo probably had the same reaction. That means that Leo and Karai probably started fighting at about 9. The fight probably would have lasted what, half an hour? So maybe all that was done by somewhere close to 9:30. Now, it took us like three minutes to get here, right? And we were moving pretty fast." Don raised an eye ridge at Raph, who made a face at his brother. Shaking his head, Don continued. "Leo was injured, though we don't know how badly, and was carrying—"

"Dead weight?" Mikey offered with a cheeky grin.

Both of the older turtles just stared at him before Don turned to Raph. "Are you going to hit him for that, or do I have to?"

Raph reached over and smacked Mikey upside the head, ignoring the resulting complaints. "Problem solved," the hothead smirked. "You can keep goin'."

"Thanks. Anyways, he was carrying _extra weight_, in addition to moving himself while injured. So let's say it took him ten to fifteen minutes to drop Karai off. That brings us up to about—"

"Now!" Raph interrupted excitedly. He then scowled. "Dammit, that means we only just missed 'im!"

Don nodded. "Yeah. He's been here and gone for a little while, so Leo may have made it back home by now."

"D'you want me to call Sensei and find out?" Mikey asked, rubbing the back of his head. Raph nodded and the orange-banded turtle pulled out his Shell cell. Quickly hitting the auto-dial button for the Lair, he rocked back and forth while he waited to Splinter to pick up. He soon heard the telltale click as the extension at the Lair was picked up.

"Hello?"

Mikey spoke into the phone quickly and quietly. "Hey, Sensei, it's Mikey. Look, we were wondering if—"

"Hello? Hello? Is someone there?"

Mikey smacked himself in the face, speaking a little louder, but still trying to keep his voice down. "Master Splinter, it's me. I'm on the phone, you already answered it—"

"Hello? My son?"

"Sensei—"

"I know I answered this infernal device correctly. Donatello did not mention pushing any buttons."

Mikey gave up trying to whisper again. "Yo, Sensei!" He winced at the amount of noise he made, but he had to get the old ninja master to stop talking.

"…Michelangelo? Is that you?"

The young turtle sighed in relief. "Yeah, it's me."

"Why did you not answer before now?"

Mikey palmed his face again. "Sorry, Master Splinter. Look, we wanted to ask you something. Has Leo come home while we were gone?"

A pause filled the phone line with silence before a heavy sigh filtered through. "No, my son; Leonardo has not returned home yet. And Mr. Jones and Miss O'Neil have not reported finding him either, on the road or at their respective homes."

"Oh." Mikey's shoulders slumped. "Al…alright, we just thought we'd check."

Splinter's voice came to Mikey's ears again. "I take it you have not had any success in finding your brother?

"No," Mikey said quietly. "We're…well, we're…um…just a sec, Sensei. I'll let you talk to Donnie." Without a word, Mikey handed the phone over to his brother.

Donnie squeezed Mikey's shoulder as he took the phone. "Hey, Sensei, it's Don. We're gonna find somewhere to hole up for a bit, so we can figure out a plan." He glanced at Raph and Mikey to see if this was acceptable; when they both nodded, he continued. "As soon as we come up with something, we'll call you, okay?"

Another sighed came through the phone line. "That is probably best, Donatello. I shall await your call."

"Sounds good, Sensei. I'll call back soon."

The three turtles quietly made their way into the alley beneath them, concealing themselves within the dusky New York shadows. None of them moved or spoke for several minutes, each thinking over what they had learned and hoping their other brother was still alright.

Mikey finally broke the silence, but kept his eyes trained on his feet. "So now we're off 'spy duty' and moving on to 'search and rescue duty'?"

"I'd say yeah, bro," Raph said quietly, laying a hand on his youngest brother's shoulder. "If Leo ain't home yet and if he ain't called or gone ta April's or Casey's either, then…"

"Then he probably isn't in any shape to do so," Don finished gently. "So we'll go out and look for him. Don't worry, Mikey; Leo's most likely just laying low somewhere. We'll probably find him in no time."

"Who's going where?" Mikey asked.

"There are eight blocks between Foot HQ and the Lair, and we're on Eighth Street right now. Leo probably isn't feeling well enough to be moving pretty fast, so we're going to start with these nearest blocks. Raph, you'll take this area, these two blocks. I'll take the next two, and Mikey, you'll take the last two. Keep your eyes open for absolutely _anything_, I don't care how unlikely you think it is that it's related to Leo. If you find anything really important, call everyone immediately. Otherwise, we'll meet back on the roof of the Swatcher Advertising building in fifteen to twenty minutes, alright?"

"You got it, Don." Raph stood, turning on his Shell Cell, and nodded to his brothers. "I'm gone."

"Me, too. Let me know if you hear anything, 'k?" Mikey readied his phone as well, disappearing over the side of the building.

Don took a deep breath as he watched his brothers leave. Their bandana tails seemed to wave goodbye, and he sighed heavily. "Good luck, guys," he whispered before setting off in his own direction.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Don sat down on the building's ledge with a sigh. He pulled his Shell Cell from his belt and flipped it open. '_No new calls or messages'_ blinked up at him from the small screen. The turtle rubbed a hand across his face and sighed again.

"Hey."

The purple-clad turtle looked up wearily as Raph walked over. "Hey," he responded.

Raph sat down beside his brother heavily. "Any luck?"

"No. Nothing."

The hothead bowed his head and sighed. "Heard anythin' from the others?"

Don nodded slowly. "Casey and April both called about five minutes ago. They didn't find anything on their run second through, and Leo still hasn't showed up at either of their places."

"Damn. Well, we didn't really expect him ta show up there. With it bein' Leo, he wasn't likely ta risk messin' things up fer Ape again, or fer Case. What about Leatherhead?"

"Same as April and Casey. He's been searching all our normal sewer passages, he checked both the old Lairs, and he's been checking in at his place too. Professor Honeycutt is hooked up to the computer there, checking police reports and airwaves, trying to find out if Leo was picked up by any authorities. But they both say they haven't seen or heard anything."

Raph propped his elbows on his knees and leaned his forehead against his fisted hands. "What about Master Splinter? Or Mikey?" he asked, a touch of desperation in his voice.

"Master Splinter says Leatherhead's the only one who's come by the Lair, and I haven't heard from Mikey yet."

"Dammit!" Raph pounded a fist into the concrete by his leg.

Don made a protesting noise before he grabbed Raph's wrist, preventing him from punching the rooftop again. "It'll be alright, Raph. There are eight of us, all out here looking for him. We've got at least a general idea of where he is, and if he knows his Shell Cell is gone, he might've tried to leave us some clues. We'll find him, bro; don't worry."

"I know. I know we'll find 'im, Don, it's just…" The hothead gazed across the Manhattan skyline. "I just don't know if we'll find 'im in time…"

The purple-banded turtle pulled his hand away from his brother. "What? What do you mean?"

Raph dropped his face in his hands. "We're…we're losin' 'im, Donnie," he choked out, his voice muffled. "We're losin' 'im. I don't know how I can tell, but I can. I can feel you guys; you, Mike, an' Leo. Not like Leo or Master Splinter can, it's not that strong, but it's good enough fer me. And Leo…my feelin' of him is fadin'. I've been…I've been losin' my sense of 'im ever since we left the roof by Foot HQ." Raph grit his teeth, struggling to force the words out of his clenched jaw. "We're losin' 'im, Donnie…an' I don't know if we're gonna find 'im in time."

Don could only stare at his brother for a while. "Why…why didn't you say anything?" He finally demanded. "Why didn't you let me know?"

"Why didn't I let ya know?!" Raph snapped. "What, ya _wanted_ me to tell ya this _sooner_? What good would it've done? Huh?! Tell me that, brainiac! What would ya have done if I'd shown up an' gone "nope, sorry, I can't find Leo, but hey, accordin' to my Spidey-sense, I think he's kickin' the bucket'? 'Scuse me fer thinkin' that hearin' that might not have helped—"

The next thing Raph knew, he was flat on his shell on the cold concrete of the rooftop, the entire left side of his face stinging. He sat up slowly, lifting a hand to his cheek, and his eyes were so wide they threatened to erupt from his face. The hothead stared at Don, who remained standing, his hand still fisted.

"Don't you dare pull that shit, Raphael. Don't you even _dare_," Don spat, his whole body shaking with tension. "Because I won't put up with it. Things are bad enough as it is; I don't need you adding to it."

Raph was frozen. He could hardly think beyond the mind-boggling thought _'**Don** just **punched** me'_ until his brother's words sunk in. He _was_ only making things worse…but in times like this, when things got this bad…he was used to hiding his worry with sarcasm. Wordlessly, he hauled himself to his feet and put a hand on Don's shoulder. "I know, Don, I know. It…shit, I'm sorry, bro. It's just…this is startin' ta get to me."

Don slowly relented as well, sitting down beside Raph again. "I know," he said quietly. "Me too. And I'm sorry about the…" Don trailed off, gesturing at Raph's face with a sheepish expression.

Raph waved off the apology. "Eh, don't be. Hell, I prob'ly deserved it, if not fer this, then fer somethin' else." Both brothers got a weak laugh out of that.

"Well, isn't this a cozy little family scene?"

The two turtles' heads shot up at the sound of another voice. Mikey was standing at the edge of the roof, just coming over the fire escape, grinning at them. He mimed taking a picture of the two brothers, then pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "It's so touching to see you two finally bonding."

"Oh, please," Raph snorted. "If ya want somethin' "touchin'", my hand would be glad ta "bond" with the back of yer head, shell-fer-brains."

"Ah, ah, ah," Mikey said in a sing-song voice as he waggled a finger at Raph. "If you do that, you'll never hear my good news, now will ya?"

Don and Raph both sat up at that, their eyes locked on Mikey. "You found him?" Don asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"No."

The elder turtles both sagged again.

"But I did find a clue about where he could be."

Don jumped to his feet, his hands latching onto Mikey's shoulders. "What did you find?"

"Corpses!" Mikey responded brightly.

Raph just stared. "What?"

"Don't worry," the orange-banded turtle said reassuringly, seeing the fear and worry on his brothers' faces. "These are good corpses!"

"What?" Don stepped back and dropped his hands from Mikey's shoulders. His face was a picture of confusion when he turned to Raph. "Are there such things as good corpses?"

Raph shrugged. "In my book, they are if they're from tha Foot."

"Right in one!" Mikey grinned, beckoning at his brothers. "Come on, we've got a few blocks to cover. I'll fill you in on the way there."

Seconds later, the three turtles were leaping across the rooftops, feet and yards swiftly passing beneath them. Mikey quickly filled his brothers in on what he had found.

"I was checking—"

Leap!

"The area I was supposed to, about six blocks from Foot HQ—"

Leap!

"And I saw somethin' kind of funky down in one of the alleys—"

Leap!

"So I dropped down there, and I found two Foot flunkies takin' dirt naps."

Leap!

"Although, it was in an alley, so I guess it's actually an asphalt nap, right?"

Leap!

"Get on with it, Mikey!"

Leap!

"I am! Anyways, I jumped down there, and guess how they died?"

Leap!

"Sword wounds?" Raph asked hopefully, his words hitching as they cleared another building gap.

Leap!

"Nope, shuriken! Or to be more specific, shuriken dipped in Donnie-boy's very own style of secret sauce!"

Leap!

"How do you know?"

Leap!

"Well, they were all stiff and twisty looking, and they had big shiny shuriken with red tips in them, and no other wounds."

"Damn, Don, I guess that stuff of yers really does work…"

"Thanks, Raph…I think…"

The turtles landed on the last rooftop, skidding to a halt. They quickly caught their breath and followed Mikey over to the fire escape. Merely seconds later, they all stood in the alley, carefully out of the circle of illumination from the streetlight.

"Alright Mikey, where are they?" Raph asked.

Mikey motioned to a corner of the alley with his head. "They're over here. I know I probably shouldn't have moved 'em, Don, but I figured you would still be able to tell what had happened…and I didn't want any of their friends showing up and finding them."

"It should be fine, Mikey," Don assured him, following his brothers.

The turtles soon stood in a half circle around the two bodies, Raph and Mikey waiting while their brainy brother inspected the black-clad corpses. Don moved about the pair of bodies for a few minutes, then suddenly stood. Without saying a word, he walked over to Mikey and hugged him tightly.

Mikey blinked in confusion before slowly embracing his brother back. "Um, Don? Normally I'm all for the whole "brotherly love" thing, but don'tcha think your timing could be a little better?"

Don pulled back from his younger brother and smiled, looking between Mikey and Raph. "Mikey, you don't understand. You were right; these two did die because of the shuriken poison. And I designed that stuff to work immediately."

"I know that. I still don't get what brought on the hugging."

"Come here." Don grabbed his brothers and knelt, pulling them down with him beside the corpses. "Take this guy's hands."

His brothers recoiled, and Raph grimaced. "Don, we don't need ta be messin' with the dead."

"Raph, I am not "messing" with them. Just shut up and take a hand, both of you."

The two turtles winced, but did as they were told. When Raph made contact, he blinked in surprise, his eyes shooting up to meet Don's.

"This guy doesn't feel dead."

Don smiled triumphantly. "_Exactly_. That's why I was so happy, Mikey."

Mikey carefully let go of the hand he had and furiously wiped his own off on the dead man's sleeve. "I am really confused right now."

"I'll explain," Don sighed. "Okay. It's hard to discern how long someone's been dead just by examining the corpses, but it's like what Raph said; these two don't feel dead. Or at least, not long dead. Their body temperatures are still at normal levels for grown humans. Also, the skin on the extremities, the hands for example, is only just starting to become clammy. And rigor mortis hasn't even begun to set in yet."

Raph frowned, releasing the hand that he held as well. "What's rigor mortis again?"

"Rigor mortis is the stiffening of the muscles of the body after death," Don explained. "In average temperatures like this, it normally takes a couple hours before it starts to set in. When someone dies, they obviously stop breathing, which means the muscles are no longer getting any oxygen. And when they stop getting oxygen, they stop produce ATP, the main kind of energy used by the body. And when they stop producing that, they can't really move any longer, and the muscles and joints and tendons begin to kind of harden together."

"What does that have to do with these two?" Mikey asked.

Don gently picked up the hand that Mikey had discarded and raised it. "There's no sign of it, not even in the smaller muscles, which is where it shows first. Fingers are one of the starting points, but look." He carefully bent several of the fingers back and forth at all of the knuckles. "This man's hands are still pliable and easily moveable."

"The point, Don, get to tha point," Raph said impatiently. "Please spit it out."

"What do you think I've been doing, Raph?" Don snapped. "Geez, I've been "spitting it out" since we got here. Heaven forbid you guys should actually _listen_ when I try to teach you something." He rolled his eyes. "Okay, let's try this one more time. Characteristics of dead people: cold body temperatures, seized-up joints, rigor mortis." He raised the man's hand again. "This guy: normal body temperature, moveable joints, unhardened muscles. So that means…?"

Raph stared at the corpses, and then his eyes suddenly lit like Don's had. "They only just kicked it."

"Exactly," Don smiled. "I designed that poison to kill instantly. They were dead basically upon impact, and right now, they feel like they're still alive."

Mikey grinned as well. "Which means Leo was just here!!"

"You got it. If I were to guess, I'd say that they've been dead maybe ten minutes. And if Leo's in bad shape, then he can't have gotten too far in that time. It might be too much to hope for, but he might have even decided to stop somewhere nearby to rest."

"So what now?" Raph prodded.

Don levered himself to his feet. "Start looking. Considering where Leo left Karai's body, and where these bodies are, he's been moving as straight as possible right for the Lair. We're going to cover every inch of this alley and all the ones between here and the Lair. Leo's got to be here somewhere."

Raph and Mikey nodded, then split apart. The three of them silently began to scour the alley, checking behind dumpsters and in the darkest corners. They worked quickly and in silence; all of them knew that they couldn't risk attracting any attention, and none of them knew how much time Leo might have left.

Mikey moved carefully down the alley, his ears pricked for any sound. He glanced behind him, then altered his course slightly. Using the Foot corpses as reference points, he was trying to keep moving straight away from them, hopefully following the same path that Leo had taken. A sudden shift in the shadows on his left had him tensing and jerking his nunchaku from his belt. "Leo?" he asked carefully of the shadows.

A small meow met his ears, and a black and white cat slunk out of the shadows towards him.

The orange-banded turtle sighed and replaced his weapons. "Definitely not Leo." Grinning despite himself, Mikey knelt down and scratched the cat behind the ears gently. "What are you doing out here, little guy? You oughta be finding a nice place to hole up in at night for the next few days or weeks." His grin melted into a hard look. "The city's probably going to be pretty nasty after dark for a while."

Oblivious to Mikey's concerns, the cat mewed again and pawed at the turtle's arm, disgruntled at the halt in his affections.

Mikey grinned and started scratching again, working his way under the cat's jaw. "You sure are a friendly one, aren't you? Most everybody is usually a bit freaked at how we look, but not you, huh? You're—" He froze as the cat lifted its chin. The watery light of the alley reflected off of small amounts of blood around the cat's mouth. "Oh man, are you okay, little guy? Are you hurt?" Mikey moved to try and get closer to the cat. Startled at the sudden movement, the cat yowled and darted away, seeming to disappear.

"What the shell?" Kneeling down again, Mikey noticed a small alcove on the left, am obscured nook made by the walls of the buildings meshing with the adjoining alleyways. Two small spots of light gleamed back at him from where the cat watched him. "Oh, so that's where you got to." Standing slowly, he approached the cat. "C'mon, little guy, I'm not gonna hurt you. I just wanna see if you're alright." The cat meowed and backed into the alcove, then turned and led Mikey farther on.

The orange-banded turtle paused at the mouth of the alcove, squinting to see anything in the murky darkness. The cat was now only a small shadow, but it seemed to be crouched beside a larger one. Mikey saw light reflect off its white teeth as the cat began to lick at the object in front of it. He frowned in confusion and flipped open his Shell Cell, holding it up in hopes that the extra light from the phone would help. What the light revealed, what he saw…tore a scream from somewhere deep within him.

"_LEO!!!!!!!"_

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**A/N: Who hates me now? Hands, anyone? XD I feel bad for doing this to you guys; two cliffhanger chapters in a row. But at least now everybody is all caught up! I'm going try and get Chapter 8 up soon so that you guys don't kill me, I promise. I know I only squeaked under the three-week update thing, but at least I made it. I'll do better, really. . Hopefully this chapter isn't a letdown after the past two chapters. And I think that's it! Thanks for reading, and I'd love it immensely if you guys would leave some reviews, even if it's only to yell at me. ;D Take care!**


	8. Confessions

_**Disclaimer:** Do I own them? No. Have I ever? No. Am I ever going to? Not likely. Have I ever claimed that I **do **__own them? Another no. I think that's everything. :D_

_Alrighty, so all the disclaiming is taken care of. And now for the thanking; thank you!! The response to this story lately, especially the last few chapters, has been so amazing. It's blowing my mind that you guys like this story so much, and I really appreciate all the support. So a big thank you goes out to all my readers. And now, a thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: **Fork tounge, Cascadia-science, Amberli Raven, The Burninator Named Trogdor, BubblyShell22, RedRebel84, Tewi, skyle, and Pi90katana.** I really, really appreciate it, and you guys totally make all the work worth it._

_As for the story! You guys ought to like this chapter, even if for no other reason than you get to find out what happens to Leo. Please don't kill me. ;; Moving on! There are only three chapters after this one; I can't believe I'm almost done with this. Anyways, after this story is done, it's going to be a while until I post another big one. For a while, I'm mainly going to be posting some one shots; my plot bunny attack from a couple months ago left me with a veritable **horde** of them, so I'll try to thin out the contents of my story folder. While I post those, I'm going to try to finish another big story so that I actually have it completely finished before I start posting it. That should do wonders for my updating schedule…if it works. On another note, I'm heading back to school on Sunday. I'm hoping that going back won't hurt my updating too much, but we'll have to see. Either way, at least you guys will be up to date._

_Anyways, I can't think of anything else, so that's all the ado for now, and on with the story!!!_

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Raph nearly jumped out of his skin at Mikey's scream, darting to his brother's side as quickly as he could. He could hear Don following close behind. Relief and panic tugged at him. _Mikey found Leo!_

_But why did he scream like that?_

He turned around the corner of the building and skidded to a stop. The alley where Raph had last spotted his youngest brother was empty. _I coulda sworn I heard Mikey from over here_. "Mikey?" he called hesitantly.

"Raph, get over here!"

The red-banded turtle walked further down the alley, still confused. "Wouldja mind tellin' me where "here" is, bro?"

Mikey suddenly appeared out of the shadows on the left, causing both of his older brothers to jump. He was paler than either of them could ever remember seeing, and his eyes were wide with fear.

Don furrowed his brow. "Mikey, where the shell did you come from?"

"It's an alcove," Mikey explained quickly. "It's pretty dark, so you can only see it from certain angles. Don, have you got a flashlight? Leo's in here, and he—I can't tell too well, but he looks bad," he finished brokenly.

"Yeah, I've got one." Don dropped to his knees, rifling through his bag and coming up with a large flashlight and a first aid kit. Getting to his feet, he flicked on the light and approached Mikey. "Show me where Leo is."

Mikey beckoned to both of them and seemed to disappear again. Don and Raph followed, and were it not for the light that Don was carrying, Raph could have sworn he was walking straight into a black wall.

Don stopped dead in his tracks, and Raph nearly ran into him. Glancing over his brother's shoulder, he could just catch sight of a still, green foot. His heart started pounding in his chest as he stepped to the side of Don and finally saw his brother. "No…" That word, that denial of what he saw before him, was the only thing Raph could hold to.

Mikey's quiet voice sounded behind him. "Leo…"

Their elder brother, strong, unbreakable Leo, was lying bloody and silent on the cold asphalt of a dark alley in New York. The wounds on his body made it look like he'd fought his way out of hell by force. Lines of pain were etched deeply into his face, and his skin was a sickly pale green. His right leg was sliced open, blood still dripping from around the meager clotting. A sodden knee pad was secured to the middle of the wound, covering as much of it as possible. The material was stained a dark crimson, full of more blood than it could hold. But worse than that was what lay deep in his left side. Two pads had been placed over what Raph could only guess was an even worse wound, but both were already soaked through with blood, and more kept leaking out. Various other small cuts and bruises mottled his skin, keeping the larger wounds company.

Raph felt his heart stop in that one moment. "No…_shit no!!!_" The scream poured out of him faster than he could stop it, as though trying to change what he saw by the sheer volume of his denial, and suddenly he was on his knees, holding his older brother as tightly as he could. One hand flew desperately to Leo's neck, and though he found a pulse, the heartbeats were erratic and weak against his fingertips.

_He's cold…dammit, why is he so cold? We're here, bro; why the hell won't you wake up?_ Raph's mind kept screaming, and he couldn't tell whether he was screaming out loud as well. He had woken up from nightmares like this so many times; he would end up finding one of his brothers mortally injured, but too late; always too late. No matter which brother it was, no matter what the situation was, he always arrived too late to help, to get any sense of justice. But worse than not being able to avenge his brother was the panicked helplessness that always paralyzed him. They would be cut and bleeding, and he would have no idea how to help them. And now that nightmare had been realized.

Even worse, it was the second time that this had happened to Leo.

The second time the Foot had nearly stolen his brother from him.

Raph could feel the rage burning in him. _Twice_ they had done this.

_Twice_.

That was two times too many. _No one_ messed with his family, and if they did, there was no way in _hell_ that they would get away with it.

Don fell to his knees beside them suddenly, the noise drawing Raph out of his anger-induced stupor.

"Oh shell…" Don's voice was uneven and shaky. "Raph…"

"Don, what do we do?" Raph asked carefully.

"He's bled so much, Raph," Don responded, his voice thin. He stuck the fingertips of one hand in the small puddle of blood that had dripped from the pad on Leo's leg and stared at the crimson liquid. "Most of this is already dry, which means he's been here so long…I should have expected this. I knew he was hurt. I knew it, and I knew it could be bad, but I thought he'd be okay. But there's too much blood, he's been lying here for too long—"

"Don!" Raph barked, letting go of Leo with one hand to grab Don's wrist. "Don, Leo's hurt bad an' we gotta help 'im. What do we do? There's gotta be somethin' we can do."

The words reached Don somehow, and Raph watched his brother come back to himself.

Don took a deep breath. "We…we have to stop the bleeding. He's already lost too much and gone into shock; that's why he's so cold. If we don't stop this now, he's going to hemorrhage and bleed to death." Strength came back into his voice as he pulled himself together and shifted his position, replacing the pad on Leo's leg with one of his own. He turned his attention to Mikey as he pressed his hands firmly on the pad. "Mikey, call April; tell her to get here as quickly as she can, and to bring all the medical supplies she can carry. Raph, check Leo's side, we need to know how badly he's hurt."

Raph nodded, staring at Leo. He shifted his hold on his older brother slightly, propping Leo against his legs with his older brother's head on his lap so that he could free his hands. He reached for the pads on Leo's side, praying that the injury wasn't as bad as it looked.

"Don't…"

Raph jerked his hand back, unsure where the voice had come from. He looked at Don and Mikey, but their faces were turned to Leo…who was awake.

"Leo!" Raph grinned, relief flooding through his system as he gripped his brother's hand. "Damn, bro, you sure know how ta scare a turtle. Man, I was worried ya weren't ever gonna snap out of it."

"You're…okay?"

Raph barely caught the words with how weak Leo's voice was. It worried him, but his annoyance with his brother pushed that aside. "Leo, yer the one that looks like shit an' yer askin' if _we're_ okay? For cryin' out loud, bro, your priorities—"

"Are…you guys…and…your safety," Leo interrupted quietly. "Raph…"

The red-banded turtle rolled his eyes but answered. "Yeah, we're all fine. An' Casey got April back to the Lair; she's fine too."

At the mention of their home, Leo's hand tightened on Raph's. "The Lair?" he wheezed, his eyes widening. "The bugs—"

"We got 'em, Leo, it's okay," Raph assured him, wondering vaguely how Leo had know about the trackers. _Karai must have wanted ta gloat or somethin'_, he figured, setting the issue aside. "Case, April and Sensei found 'em when they picked us up, and got rid of em." He squeezed Leo's hand reassuringly as he reached again for the pads bound to Leo's side. "Anyways, yer the one that needs taken care of, not us. Don't worry, bro, we'll getcha fixed up an' home in no time."

"Nnn…no…" The word breezed from Leo's mouth, more of a whisper than actual speech. His left hand rose slightly to land on Raph's, a feeble attempt to stop his movements.

"'No'? Bro, this ain't the time ta be stubborn," Raph pointed out, concern growing unpleasantly in his gut. He tried again to move the pads aside.

"I said…_no_…" Leo's words were slightly stronger now, yet still undeniably weak. His hand just hung from Raph's now, no strength left in his arm. "D-don't…look. Y-you don't…need to…see this," he whispered.

Raph's brows furrowed in concern. "Bro, we can't fix it if we can't see it," he said, worry making his voice rough.

"I don't…think you c-can fix…this…" Leo breathed quietly, avoiding Raph's eyes. "Just…don't."

A cold weight settled heavily in Raph's stomach. "C'mon, knock it off, yer freakin' me out here. Stop bein' stupid an' lemme see what's wrong." Without waiting for permission, he reached over and tugged the pads aside. Seconds later, he could feel the blood draining out of his face as Mikey and Don gasped.

"Holy shit…"

Horror rose in Raph's throat, quickly followed by bile. Leo's side featured a thin, jagged stab wound, the severity and depth of the gash made clear by the alarming rate at which it continued to pump blood. Raph ripped an elbow pad off his arm and quickly pressed it to Leo's side. The blue-banded turtle whimpered at the pressure, and Raph felt his heart rise into his throat at the noise. He'd never heard his brother make that sound before. He could feel the wetness that kept seeping into the new pad, unabated by the pressure he was applying. Panic began to race through his veins, and he unconsciously pushed down harder on his brother's side.

A weak scream tore its way out of Leo's mouth, and his body bucked, the pain jolting his body uncontrollably.

"Raph, what are you doing?!" Don shouted.

"I'm tryin' ta keep Leo from dyin'!" the hothead snapped back. "Look at 'im!"

"I am, Raph, and you can't press that hard, not even to stop the blood flow," Don retorted. He snatched the pad from his brother and took his place. "We need him conscious, and he won't stay that way long if he passes out from pain. Keep pressure on his leg and I'll take care of this." Shifting his attention, he held Leo's eyes carefully. "Leo, I need you to tell me everything that happened. Tell me how you got this."

Leo stared at his brother, trying to focus. His entire body trembled with pain and shock, and Mikey knelt down and held one of his brother's hands gently. "C'mon, bro, listen to Donnie; he knows what he's talking about. Just tell us what happened."

"Karai…she, I mean…we—fought. She stabbed me…"

"How, Leo?"

"With a…katana…what else?" Leo responded, his words weak and morbidly humorous. "Wasn't…even mine…this time."

"_Leo_," Don reprimanded.

"She tried to stab me…in the heart, but it—" Leo gestured weakly at the bloody line that trailed along his plastron. "It s-skidded and g-got lodged in my side…I think one of my ribs—s-stopped it."

"Shell…" Don swore, shaking his head. "At least it didn't go in any further. How long ago was this?"

"Don, I can't—"

Don's voice was sharp and firm. "How long ago, Leo?"

Leo's expression was tired and pained as he tried to remember. "T-twenty minutes, I think…"

"Shit," Don ground out tightly. He snapped his gaze up to Mikey's. "Mikey, you need to target a pressure point and slow the flow of blood to his side. He's been bleeding heavily for way too long, and just putting pressure on this isn't helping enough."

"But Don, I don't—"

"Mikey, you always did well when we practiced using these, and you're the only one with free hands."

The orange-banded turtle gulped, but nodded. "Gotcha." He got up quickly and knelt behind his brother, propping Leo's head up on his legs. Tilting his brother's head to the side, he slowly traced his fingers along Leo's neck and upper shoulder, murmuring to himself quietly as he sought for the right point. He finally settled on one and pressed a finger to it firmly, glancing at Don for confirmation. His other hand was resting on Leo's chest, holding Leo's right hand tightly.

Don nodded. "Good, that's the best one for right now. You called April?"

Mikey nodded, a small grin tugging at his mouth. "She said she'd be here in four or five minutes."

"That's a bit fast."

"Well, we are only three blocks from the Lair. And April said she and Casey both just got back from checking for Leo at both of their places, so they're both still in the Battleshell. She also said she's bringing all the supplies she could find at her place and the Lair."

Don sighed and shook his head. "She is unbelievable. Way too good to us."

"We…cause her too much…t-trouble," Leo wheezed, his voice uneven as his breathing began to accelerate in agitation. "She s-shouldn't be…i-involved…"

Raph frowned down at his brother. "Leo, ya need to calm down, bro—"

Leo ignored him, his breath coming even faster. "The Foot know w-where…she lives. They've been…watching her b-because of us. She—she isn't s-safe, and…it's our f-fault—" His body arced suddenly, his hand tightening desperately on Mikey's. "Hnngh!"

"Leo!" Mikey cried frantically. His attention flew between Leo and Don, and back again. "Don, what's wrong?!"

"He's got a frickin' _hole_ in his side, that's what's wrong!" Raph snapped, still holding a pad to Leo's leg. "Don'tcha think that prob'ly twinges a bit?"

Another sudden movement from Leo cut off Don's angry rebuke. The blue-banded turtle collapsed, the tension bleeding from his body rapidly. His eyes fluttered shut as his breath wheezed out of him.

"Don, his pulse—it's gone!" Mikey yelled hysterically, his hand still on Leo's neck. "What's going on?!"

The purple-banded turtle shoved his brothers out of the way, laying Leo flat out on the pavement. "I'm not sure," he answered tightly, his own hands going to Leo's neck and wrist. "It might be a heart attack, from a combination of shock and blood loss. I think he had a small anxiety attack just now and that sent his heart rate soaring. Combined with how much blood he's lost and how much strain's been put on his body in the past couple of hours, I think his heart stopped."

Mikey froze, looking stricken. "His heart…? Leo, he…he's dead?"

Don snarled at the question, his own fear turning his self-control brittle. "He's not dead until his brain waves stop," he retorted defiantly. Folding his hands on top of each other, he placed them on Leo's plastron and began chest compressions. "Raph, get over here and help me."

Raph got up without a word and gently moved Mikey out of the way. At Don's nod, he breathed into Leo's mouth, then sat back to wait for the next set. He glanced at Mikey quickly, worried by his brother's state, then turned back to Leo for another set of breaths. Raph could hear his own heart pounding in his ears, could feel the fear starting to creep up on him. They all dreaded losing one another, but Leo had always featured largely in Raph's dreams of death. Despite their differences, they had always been close, and they still were. But there was more to it than that; when he chose to look, he could see how hard the role of leadership could be and was on Leo. Without Leo, that burden would fall to _him_, and just the thought made Raph feel like he was strangling. Yet even beyond that, it still came back to the fact that Raph couldn't imagine a life without Leo. Overprotective or not, aggravating or not, he was Raph's big brother. He stared at Leo with wide eyes, praying that he wasn't really watching his brother die.

_You gotta come back, Leo; you just have to._

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Don continued the chest compressions, increasing the pressure as his fear began to grow. He knew they didn't have much time in which to restart Leo's heart. When the heart stopped beating, oxygen stopped traveling through the body. If they couldn't get Leo breathing again, and soon, parts of his brain would begin to die. And then eventually, nothing would be able to bring him back…

_NO!!!_

His motions became jerky as he struggled to hold onto his growing panic. His sense of time began to become distorted as his fear took hold. Don couldn't tell how long he'd been sitting here, shoving at his brother's chest in what felt like a vain attempt at forcing life back into a motionless heart. The terror in him at the thought of losing Leo was telling him it had been hours, that there was no use, that Leo was gone, while the fading fragments of his reason insisted that a full minute couldn't even have passed yet. Don didn't know which part was right, but he was willing to sit here through eternity trying to bring his brother back, even if the chance of doing so was infinitesimal.

This was straight out of nearly every one of Don's nightmares, this breathless span of time in which all of reality seemed to be held in limbo. Ever since he had begun taking up the burden of being the family medic, the dreams of death that were depressingly common for all them, for _him_ began to become dreams of failure as well. Some dreams would continue like this, with Don trying as hard as possible to save whichever brother was hurt, while nothing happened. The blood would keep flowing, the heart would keep slowing, and try as he might nothing would change that. Everything would stay frozen in an endless moment of sweat and tears and trying _so damn hard_. He would wake up shaking, part of him insisting crazily that if he just went _back_ into the dream, he was sure to save them this time. Other dreams would end with his brother dying in his arms, with all his efforts for nothing, his struggles proving vain while all around him his family and friends screamed, blaming him for his brother's death.

_Why didn't you do more?_

_Why didn't you try harder?_

_Why couldn't you save him?_

Don shook himself out of his terror, holding desperately to the small certainties he still had. _There's still time…it's not much, but there's still time_.

Another set of compressions on a silent heart, another set of breaths forced into still lungs.

_Please let it be enough._

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Mikey sat frozen on the ground, unable to move or think. He couldn't seem to move his eyes from Leo. Despite what Don had said, to him, death always meant the same thing; a cold body with no breath, and no pulse.

So…Leo had…died?

Mikey's mind was in turmoil. His focus whirled around a dozen different thoughts, a thousand different emotions. He both thought Leo was dead and hoped desperately that he would come back; he _had_ to be able to, or Don wouldn't still be trying. He wanted to race across the city and destroy anyone and anything that had been even remotely connected to what had happened to Leo…and feared moving above all else, because as long as he stayed by Leo's side, his brother could still come back. Determination chased despair, hope rode on the back of anger, and through it all, fear held him immobile.

A warm touch on his leg nearly sent him through the wall, he was so tightly wound. Glancing down, he saw that the cat had come back and was sitting on his lap. Mikey lifted it into his arms and hugged it tightly, desperately needing to hold something warm, something alive, to chase away the memory of the sickening chill of Leo's skin. Then his attention was back on his brother.

It seemed so unbelievably _wrong_, so totally _unfair_ that they should always have to risk and lose so much. They had never done anything to anyone, had never asked for anything other than the chance to live in peace, and yet all they ever seemed to face was hardship and sadness, loss and pain. _It's not fair!!!_ Part of him laughed mockingly at the statement, but he kept to the mantra, childish though it may be. _None_ of this was fair. Why should they have to lose Leo? Why should they have to pay for peace in blood? Why should he have to lose a brother that had fought so hard to end a war their father had started them in?

_Leo, we can't lose you…**I** can't lose you._

Despite the nagging and restriction that came with it, Leo's protection had always been important to Mikey. Over the years, Leo had covered for him in front of Sensei, sheltered him from Raph after a prank, and watched his back, _all_ their backs, in each and every fight. _He's always been there for me, even when I didn't want it or appreciate it_. Leo was the big brother, the untouchable one, the shield between him and everything bad in the world. Leo was the nightlight that kept the monsters at bay, the light in the dark that made things bearable at the worst of times.

The thought of losing all of that was terrifying.

A sudden gasp nearly caused Mikey to squeeze the cat in two. His eyes focused again and could hardly believe what he saw…

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Leo was breathing again.

His eyes were shut, and each breath wheezed in and out of his lungs, but he was alive.

Raph sagged in relief, and Don himself was trembling with it. "Okay," he managed to say shakily. "Now we just need April and Casey to—"

A sudden screech of tires broke the silence at the mouth of the alley, and running footsteps could be heard moments later. "Guys?" Casey's voice called out. "Yo, Raph, Don, Mikey, where are ya?"

Don closed his eyes thankfully. "Speak of the devil," he laughed. Moving to the mouth of the alcove, he quickly got Casey and April's attention. Both humans gasped at the sight of Leo, but moved immediately once Don started issuing instructions. April and Don swiftly applied temporary bandages, then moved Leo to the Battle Shell with Casey's help. Four minutes later, the six of them were safely back in the garage of the Lair. Casey, Don and April unloaded Leo carefully and headed for the infirmary right away, while Raph and Mikey stayed behind to bring in the rest of the supplies.

Raph sighed, a small fraction of his tension ebbing away now that they were all home. "We made it, Mikey; all four of us made it home one more time."

"Yeah…" Mikey's voice was as shaky as Raph's. "C'mon, let's get this stuff and get inside. Someone's gonna have to tell Sensei what's going on."

The two of them loaded their arms with the boxes of supplies and closed up the Battle Shell. Raph had just turned off the lights to the garage when he heard a meow. He closed his eyes and groaned. _Please tell me I didn't just hear that_. Turning to glare at Mikey, who met his eyes sheepishly, he saw that his brother's arms were full of boxes…and the cat from the alley. "Mikey, we don't have time for this!" Raph snapped.

"It's not taking any time, Raph, he's already right here!" Mikey shot back, tightening his arm around the cat. "Besides, he saved Leo's life."

Raph growled in exasperation. "Dammit, Mikey, listen—"

"No, _you_ listen, Raph. You saw what that alcove looked like; you couldn't find it. You even said yourself that you didn't see it until I came out of it. Well, guess what? I didn't notice either until I saw this little guy disappear into it, which means that all three of us could have walked right past it, and what would've happened to Leo then, huh?" Mikey's expression remained stubborn. "He's staying with us. I wasn't going to leave him out there; not after he helped us find Leo, and especially not with how bad this city's gonna be when all the Foot go nuts."

The red-banded turtle groaned internally. Mikey didn't get like this often, but he was as stubborn as Leo when he wanted to be. Raph sighed and gave it one last try. "Ya can't save every single stray ya come across, Mike; and besides, since when have the Foot gone after animals?"

Mikey stared at the bundle of fur in his arms. "It's never seemed to matter much to any of them who they hurt," he said quietly. "And I know I can't save all of them, but I've got to help the ones I can." He looked up to hold Raph's eyes. "We do it for the humans, why not do it for the animals?" His gaze moved back to the cat. "_They_ at least show some gratitude for it."

Raph found himself slightly taken aback at the bitterness in Mikey's words. The orange-banded turtle took Raph's silence for acceptance and walked out of the garage and into the Lair. His older brother stared after him, slightly lost in thought. Of all of them, Mikey had never voiced any complaints or bitterness about never being thanked for the things they did. Every time they'd save someone, only to have that person run off yelling about "freaks", "monsters" or "mutants", Mikey had always had a joke right on hand. Raph felt a pang of guilt hit his stomach; _how come I never thought that that stuff really bugged him?_ The answer was easy, but not one he liked. _'Cause Mikey always laughs at everythin', an' I never thought that he was doin' it to hide stuff._ Shaking his head, Raph set the thought aside and followed his brother into the Lair. He dropped his supplies in the door of the infirmary, which was already bustling with Don and April's motions, then joined the rest of his family in the living room.

_An' now we wait_.

The time passed with agonizing slowness. After explaining to Splinter what had happened, none of them felt like talking, and the only thing that broke the silence of the Lair was the occasional noise from the infirmary. Two hours after they brought Leo home, Don and April finally emerged, both of their faces tight with worry. They sat down with the rest of the family, exhaustion obvious in their movements.

Raph asked the question on everyone's mind. "How is he, Donnie?"

Don spoke quietly without moving his face from his hands. "It's bad, Raph. He lost…so much blood. It's weakened him incredibly. His pulse is very weak and erratic, and his breathing is much too shallow. April and I stitched up his leg; fortunately, that cut wasn't that bad. It was long but not deep, and it missed the muscles. But his side…Karai stabbed him deeply. The blade went all the way to his ribs. The only luck we have is that it was stopped there and didn't enter his abdominal cavity, which means no internal organs were pierced. There was some internal damage, obviously, but since it was a fairly clean strike, there's not as much as there could have been. We fixed what we could, but the rest of it we couldn't do much about. We could have operated to get at it, but Leo's body couldn't have taken the additional blood loss. The blood transfusion we gave him will help ease the deficit a little until his body manages to recover and start replacing the blood that was lost, but he'll probably need another one in a while."

"Is he…gonna make it, Donnie?" Mikey asked hesitantly.

A long moment passed in silence before Don raised his head to look at his family. "I don't know, Mikey. It…it doesn't look good right now."

Tears began to fill Mikey's eyes, and Splinter bowed his head in grief. Raph buried his face in his hands with a choked curse. "What can we do, Don?" he asked brokenly.

"Wait," Don replied bleakly. "It's all we can do, other than pray. It's up to Leo's body whether he can recover from this or not. We also have to wait and see if any infection sets in; with how long he was lying in that alley, one or both of his cuts might have gotten infected. Even though we cleaned them as well as possible, infection may have already gotten inside. We gave him some penicillin, but I don't know if we got it into him in time. We'll just have to wait and see. If he survives the night…we have a chance."

"Will talking to him help? Like it did last time?" Mikey inquired.

"I don't know, Mikey. We can try tomorrow. It might, if hearing us could somehow give him strength. That's what he needs the most: strength. He completely exhausted himself tonight, so his energy stores are basically empty. But right now he needs rest. It's the best thing for him right now."

Splinter stood slowly, grief and worry darkening his face. "Leonardo is not the only one who needs rest. We shall all retire now, and I will watch Leonardo through the night." A flurry of protests immediately greeted this announcement, but Splinter silenced them with a raised hand. "My sons, as Donatello says, rest is what Leonardo needs the most. There is nothing else we can do for him tonight. And with how badly injured your brother is, we will all need our rest as well if we are to help him to heal." Splinter departed for the infirmary, closing the door quietly behind him.

The rest of the Lair's occupants fell silent. "So what now?" Casey asked, unusually subdued.

Don sighed. "We go to bed. Leo's body simply doesn't have the energy to really do anything; even if we all did stay up all night, nothing would happen. Sensei will watch him, and he'll let us know if anything _does_ happen." He turned to their guests. "Casey, April, I know you'd probably like to be in your own beds tonight, but we'd all feel a lot better if you guys stayed here for the next few days."

The two humans nodded. "I'd rather be nearby, just in case," April agreed.

"Good," Don said, relieved. "I know we could use the extra help. April, I can either put up a cot for you in Leo's room, since…it's not being used right now."

April shook her head. "I'd rather just crash here on the couch, if that's alright."

"That's fine. Casey?" Don asked, turning to the tall man. "How about you?"

"Case can bunk with me if he wants," Raph offered. "I've got a spare hammock I can string up for 'im."

"Works fer me," Casey said. "Just as long as it ain't strung too high up; I always fall outta those things."

Raph snorted dryly. "I'll getcha some pillows so ya've got a soft landin', princess."

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Mikey offered. His eyes strayed towards the infirmary. "I'll see _everyone_ tomorrow," he amended determinedly before he left for his room.

The four that were left said their goodnights as well, each of them remembering Mikey's words with the same idea of hope.

_Amen to that._

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Mikey woke with a start, his plastron heaving as he pulled himself out of a nightmare. The three of them had gone out to look for Leo, just as they had in real life, and made their way to the same alley. However, that was where the similarities ended. Mikey had once again been led by the cat to the alcove where Leo was lying, but when he tried to enter, a glass wall had winked into existence in between them, cutting Mikey off from his brother. However, he could still see Leo perfectly. The scene was lighter than he could remember, because he could see clearly all the blood and wounds on his brother. The cat had sat there like before, meowing and staring at Mikey accusingly, as though asking why he wasn't helping his brother. Frantically, Mikey had started flailing at the wall with his nunchaku, trying desperately to reach his brother. Then came that horrible attack again, as Leo stiffened, then fell so still and silent. Mikey had screamed, begging anyone to come help him, but Raph and Don had disappeared. He had woken just as the dream cat had walked away, leaving him completely alone as he watched his brother die helplessly. Shaking off the lingering images, Mikey glanced at his clock to find that it had just reached ten in the morning. He stretched widely, then reached for his bandana. A sudden flurry of footsteps outside his door caught his attention, and he tied his bandana on as he made his way out into the hall. Just as he opened his door, he caught sight of Don and Master Splinter disappearing into the infirmary, shutting the door tightly behind them. His heart began sinking towards his stomach.

"Hey, Mikey."

The orange-banded turtle jumped at the sound of his name, then turned to see Raph. "Hey. What's going on? Is everything okay?"

Raph frowned slightly and jerked his head away from the infirmary, indicating for Mikey to follow. The two turtles made their way into the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Mikey asked again, Raph's silence making him nervous.

A heavy sigh came from Raph as he stared at the table. "It's Leo. It looks like some'a his cuts got infected after all. When Sensei and Don went ta check on 'im this mornin', they found him with a fever."

"Oh shell…"

"Yeah." Raph shot a troubled look at the infirmary door. "Apparently it's kinda bad. Sensei an' Don are in there with 'im now. Sensei's gonna try an' merge with Leo's spirit, to try and send him some strength and see if they can get rid of this before it really gets goin'. Don's in there to help out and keep an eye on both of 'em."

Mikey followed his brother's gaze. "How long are they gonna be in there?"

Raph shrugged. "Who knows. Either till it starts workin', or till it stops workin'."

Those were the last words either of them spoke for a while. The other inhabitants of the Lair woke as well, and breakfast was a quiet affair. Casey and April both made a quick and careful trip to their homes for some of their belongings, but that was the only action of the day.

It wasn't until a few hours after Don and Splinter had entered the infirmary that the door opened again. All eyes flew to the room in an instant. Don emerged, practically carrying Splinter out of the room. They disappeared into Splinter's room, and then Don emerged alone. Spying the rest of his family, he joined them quickly.

"How'd it go, Don?" Raph asked intently.

"It looks like it worked, or at least helped. Leo's fever has dropped several degrees, so it's no longer at such a dangerously high temperature. The energy that Sensei gave him, along with the second transfusion of blood I just administered, managed to pull Leo out of unconsciousness, so he's sleeping now, which is the best thing for him. Leo's got some of the energy he needs to fight off the infection and start healing, but he's still got a ways to go."

Mikey sighed in relief. "How's Sensei?"

"Absolutely exhausted," Don said exasperatedly. "He didn't sleep much last night, and he gave Leo just about everything he had. I know we really needed what he did, but I just wish he hadn't overdone it. He's going to be sleeping nearly as much as Leo for the next few days."

"Can…can I go see him?" Mikey asked hesitantly. "Leo, I mean. Could I go talk to him?"

Don looked at his brother and smiled tiredly. "Sure, Mikey. I'm sure it'll do you both some good."

Mikey smiled back at his brother and took off for the infirmary. He entered quietly, and took a seat beside Leo's bed. The blue-banded turtle was still pale, and the rising and falling of his chest was the only movement he made. Mikey cleared his throat. "Hey, bro. Look at you, you're a mess. You're really gonna have to work on learning how to play nice with the other kids," he joked weakly, his voice strained. He fell silent, unsure of how to continue, when a quiet noise from by his feet drew his attention. The black and white cat was sitting there watching him, and Mikey picked it up with a grin. _Here's something to talk about._

"Hey, Leo, there's someone I want you to meet." Mikey held the cat up in front of Leo as though presenting it. The cat meowed indignantly, unhappy with the treatment. "Sorry, little guy," Mikey said, lowering the cat down to his lap. "Anyways, I thought I should introduce you since you haven't really met yet. He saved your life, bro; did you know that? Of course you don't, you were unconscious. Sorry, stupid question. But yeah, he saved you; he's the reason I found you. You really did find a good hiding spot, Leo. If he hadn't led me to you, I—I don't think we would have found you." He trailed off quietly, then forced a smile back on his face. "Sorry, melancholy moment. And yeah, I _do_ know what that means, thank you very much. With you and Raph always being so moody, I've picked up on a whole new vocabulary; a bunch of new ways to make fun of you guys, isn't that great?"

Mikey gave a tight, forced laugh. "Maybe for me. I hope you don't mind me just goin' on and on like this." He sighed, unable to keep up the carefree façade any longer. "Of course you don't, you never mind anything. Or at least, you don't show it. You've really gotta work on that, Leo. It's not healthy to keep things in as much as you do. You'll blow a blood vessel or get fat from the stress or something. Isn't that right, little dude?" Mikey asked, looking down at the cat jokingly.

The feline didn't even look up, but proceeded to start washing itself instead.

The orange-banded turtle shook his head, grinning slightly. "He listens to me just about as much as anyone in this family. Except you, Leo; for some reason, you'll listen to anyone. Heck, you're even listening to me talking to you about this little guy. Oh, that reminds me, bro; he doesn't have a name yet. I figured that since he found you, you ought to get to name him. Not to mention, he'd probably ignore a name from any of the rest of us; he seems to be pretty attached to you already. He kinda claimed you, ya know? He came in here just as soon as I did. I guess he wanted to make sure you were okay, too. So ya see, you gotta wake up, Leo. We can't just go around calling him "little guy" or "cat" or, in the tender words of Raph, "the newest hairball". I think "damn fleabag" was another one, not that you heard it from me. But anyways, he needs a name soon, bro, or he's gonna get a complex or something. I think Donnie said it's an identity crisis. You wouldn't do that to a cute little guy like this, would you? Not to mention what you'd do to us if you didn't wake up…what you'd do to _me_."

"Shell, we're so selfish when it comes to you, Leo. I mean, look at you; you just got the tar beat out of you, and we're here asking things of you already. Heal. Wake up. Come back. Make yet another miraculous recovery…sometimes I wonder how many of those you've got left in you, bro. You've already had what, three so far? First after you got ambushed by the Foot, then there was the whole poisoning bit at the Battle Nexus, and then coming back from "broody" you. And here we are, asking for another one. I keep wondering if maybe we haven't run out…out of miracles, out of luck. Run out of time, maybe."

Mikey stared at his brother, disheartened by the lack of response. "I guess we'll find out, huh?"

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Raph frowned. He'd been passing by Leo's door when he heard Mikey talking to the sleeping turtle, and he could easily hear the distress in his youngest brother's voice. He set a hand on the doorknob gently, debating whether or not to go in and talk to him when he felt a hand fall on his shoulder. Raph nearly jumped out of his shell and turned to see Don.

The brainy turtle raised an eye ridge at Raph's obvious eavesdropping. Raph shrugged guiltily, but jerked his head towards the door, indicating for Don to listen as well. The two of them stood quietly as they picked up on Mikey's words again.

"…We sure do ask a lot of you, don't we, bro? Like what we kept asking you to do about Karai." He fell silent, then spoke again even more quietly than before. "I know there was something between you two, Leo. I don't think Don or Raph saw it; Raph would have blown even more blood vessels if he did know, and I don't think it really occurred to Donnie. The guy doesn't see much romance anywhere unless he's looking at April."

Raph almost choked as he tried to suppress a snort, while Don's whole face flamed red.

"I don't know what went on between the two of you up on that rooftop tonight, but in case Karai didn't say anything to you, I figure I ought to. You deserve to know. She…she cared about you, Leo. I know you prob'ly didn't see it, but it was there. I could see it sometimes when she looked at you. Under the hate and all the other stuff, every so often, I'd catch a glimpse of something. It wasn't much, and it didn't happen all that often, but it was there. It was…I dunno how to explain it. She looked at you like—like Raph looks at a new motorcycle. Like Donnie looks at April or a new piece of tech, like I look at a brand new comic or a monster-sized pizza. Like you look at—at…" He broke off, his expression turning puzzled. "I don't know, bro. You do unreadable really well, ya know? I guess for you, it was like how you looked at her." Mikey chuckled slightly. "Bet you're surprised, huh? Never thought I was really the deep one, didja? Don't feel bad, no one does. But I saw how you looked at her. You did it a lot less than she did, though; I guess you were even more afraid of getting caught actually feeling something. But I could tell even beyond that, just 'cause of how many times you kept trying to get through to her. You always try to help everyone, Leo, but you only go _that_ far for people you care about. Anyways, I got off-topic. She looked at you like you looked at her, bro; at least when you both thought no one was looking. And you know how else I know she cared? She saved your life, bro."

Both Don and Raph's eyes nearly fell out of their heads at Mikey's words.

Mikey nodded as though Leo had responded. "Hard to believe, I know, but it's true. It was on the Shred-head's spaceship, after he'd pounded the crap out of all of us. I think I was the only one conscious; Sensei was down after getting shocked, Raph had busted ribs, Don had just got knocked out, and you…well, you know how you were. Anyways, I was still awake, though not very much; two broken legs hurts like shell, let me tell ya. But I was awake enough to hear what was going on. I heard Shredder gloating, and I knew he was talking about you, 'cause out of all of us, he hated you the most; maybe even more than Sensei. So I tried to see what was goin' on, to see if I could get up and help. I knew I wasn't gonna be much help with two bum legs, but I had to try. Anyways, he was about to kill you, and then…Karai was there. She stopped him, said to "leave us in our dishonor"." Mikey snorted loudly. ""Dishonor". He's got ninja everywhere, a crazy-insane exo-suit, and _we're_ the dishonorable ones. Yeah, right; I know an excuse when I hear one. She wanted to save you, bro. If it was anyone else, one of the rest of us…I think she woulda let him do it. But not you. Man, Shred-head did _not_ take that well. He hit her, didja know that? Smacked her almost clear across the room and started yelling at her. That's how they ended up outside of the engine room." He paused and looked at his brother, falling silent for several minutes. "I'm not sure why I didn't tell you before. I think…I think it was 'cause I didn't want you to know. Things were already bad enough for you after that, and I thought if I told you, it would make things even worse for you. And—and I was being selfish, too; I thought that if you knew she saved you, you might start trusting her again, and I didn't want to have to see you get hurt anymore." His voice became thick with tears. "I—I'm so _tired_ of seeing you guys get hurt…"

Don and Raph felt guilt gnaw at their insides as they watched their brother cry; the feeling of intruding where they really shouldn't be was growing.

The tears finally slowed, and Mikey sniffed several times before sighing and speaking again. "Alright, Leo, I tried. I guess you're not up for talking right now, so I'll just wait till you get up." A derisive smile curled up one side of his mouth. "Another surprise, huh? I'm full of 'em today. I _can_ be patient, you know. I just don't do it too often. Probably 'cause I'm always already moving, and I don't wanna stop. It's like that one guy's law…objects in motion stay in motion, objects at rest stay at rest. What was his name? I know it, it's right on the edge of my brain…didn't it have something to do with figs? Oh yeah, Newton, that was it!"

Don slapped a hand to his forehead and shot a pained look at Raph. The red-banded turtle shrugged helplessly. "At least he got the law an' the name right. Does it really matter how?" he whispered.

"But _Fig Newtons_?" Don whispered back. "_Fig Newtons_. He connects one of the most important scientists ever with a _snack food_."

Raph tried not to snicker at the aggrieved tone of Don's words. "Whatever works. Get over it," he murmured, jerking his head back at their brothers.

"Anyways, yeah, I don't like stopping," Mikey continued. "Weird, huh, especially considering how much I like sleeping. But I just like doing things better than _not_ doing things. It's uncomfortable when it's quiet and nothing's happening, 'cause then anything could happen, and "anything" always seems to end up badly for us. But maybe it'll be different this time. I mean, Karai's gone, and unless she ends up being an alien too, which would be _completely_ insane and unfair, she won't be coming back. So maybe the downtime will be a permanent thing for once…either way, I'll be here when you wake up, bro. You've done it enough times for me, so I figure I oughta repay the favor. Besides, I might as well; you're the only one I can talk to, even if you're unconscious. Don and Raph never want to talk about things like this, and Sensei…well, he's totally wiped out and takin' this pretty hard; I don't wanna make it any worse by bumming him out with what I'm feeling too. 'Course, when _you_ wake up, you won't wanna talk about it either, 'cause you're like Don and Raph too." Mikey sighed as he looked at his brother. "Why do you guys think I'm always talking? None of you ever do, so I've always gotta do the talking for all four of us. Shell, that's why I'm always talking to Klunk; even if he doesn't understand, he at least listens. I know you try, Leo; it just—it'd be nice if you _all_ tried a little more, and ignored me a little less."

"Damn…" Raph whispered. He turned to Don, guilt and anxiety in his eyes. "We don't really do that, do we?"

Don stared at the floor. "You know we do," he answered uncomfortably. "I'm always "too busy" for him, or I never expect him to actually have anything serious to say. And you—"

"I never take 'im seriously either," Raph said dully. "I just brush it off as him bein' a clown. An' that way I don't hafta start talkin' with him and admit to anythin'."

"Like being scared?" Don asked quietly.

Raph glanced back into Leo's room, where his older brother lay so silently. "Yeah. Like bein' scared," he agreed softly. His gaze shifted to Mikey. "We gotta fix this, Don. Mikey—we should talk to 'im. Or just listen or whatever."

"I know, Raph; but I'd suggest waiting a bit before letting Mikey know we were listening in on a private conversation. He'll take it better once…things aren't so uneasy."

"You mean 'once Leo wakes up', right?" Raph clarified. He looked back at Leo, still so motionless and pale. His voice got softer. "Do…d'you really think he's gonna? Get better an' wake up, I mean. Can he?"

Don placed a hand on Raph's shoulder. "I seriously hope so. His chances…they should be fairly good, now that he's got the extra boost from Sensei. Tiring as it is, we're just back to hoping now. We've exhausted all our options. Other than keeping an eye on him and keeping him on the IV, there's nothing more we can do for him."

"Nothin' but wait, right?" When Don nodded, Raph growled and stomped towards the door of the Lair.

"Where are you going, Raph?"

"Out ta find somethin' to hit."

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On the fourth day after they'd brought Leo home, Don made his way to the infirmary to relieve Mikey of his watch. Even though there'd been no change in Leo's condition since the first day, for better or worse, the whole family still maintained vigils over him, Casey and April helping to spot the turtles when they got tired. The days were starting to blur together into a series of quiet watches, silent meals, and uneasy sleeps for all of them.

Once Mikey slipped out of Leo's room, Don quietly took his place. He sat down in the ever present chair beside Leo, and carefully examined his brother. After taking his pulse and checking the machines he had Leo hooked up to, he leaned back in the chair. A second later, he jumped slightly as a loud meow sounded from the doorway. Turning towards the noise, he saw the cat that had "rescued" Leo, as Mikey put it. It sat in the middle of the open doorway, staring at Don expectantly and twitching its tail. Don stared back at it, bewildered. "You're kidding me, right?"

The cat made no response other than to meow again, louder this time.

Don shook his head in disbelief. Ever since they'd brought the cat home, it had haunted the infirmary, seeming to keep watch on Leo like the rest of the family. During one of the times that Mikey had kept watch, Don had come upstairs to see the cat sitting where it was now, staring into the room. What had followed still seemed absurd.

"_Hey, Mikey? The stray you brought home is just sitting here. I think he might be hungry."_

_Mikey had turned to look, then grinned slightly. "Nah, he's just here for my report."_

_Don stared at his brother. "Excuse me?"_

"_He comes in to check on Leo," Mikey had explained. "Look, I'll prove it." Turning his attention to the cat, Mikey started talking again. "Leo hasn't really changed much. He's sleeping still, but I think he's a little more stable. He's still got a fever, but whatever Sensei did is keeping it from going up. I don't have any news other than that, buddy; sorry."_

_The purple-clad turtle had wanted to laugh at his brother for talking to the cat in such a way, but then, inexplicably, the cat purred slightly and walked away. Don had stared after it, his eyes threatening to fall out of their sockets. "No way."_

_Mikey had grinned at his brother's disbelieving expression. "What can I say, bro? He likes to stay informed."_

Don shook his head again. "I must not be getting enough sleep, actually buying into something like that." He looked askance at the cat. "You can go now. Go—I don't know, bother Raph. All animals seem to enjoy doing that. Or go give yourself a bath."

The cat's ears went back, giving it an insulted expression.

"I didn't mean to imply that you need one, I'm just—" Don broke off. "This is not happening. I am not talking to a cat. You are a cat," he informed the patiently waiting feline. "An animal. One that doesn't have the mental faculties to fully understand or comprehend human speech. I am not going to sit here and give you medical updates. That's absolutely ridiculous."

Another meow, this one sounding disgruntled.

"Absolutely not. I am not Doctor Doolittle." Don turned away to focus on Leo, purposely ignoring the cat. As soon as he did, it began to meow incessantly, the same plaintive, annoyed sound, over and over. After a couple minutes, Don couldn't take it anymore and glared at the cat. "Alright! Just stop making that racket."

The cat fell silent, looking at Don expectantly.

"I can _not_ believe I am doing this," Don grumbled. "Alright, fine. Leo still hasn't woken up, but he's sleeping instead of unconscious, which means he's improving. The rest will help a lot in his recovery. His pulse is steady, and his breathing has evened out. This stupid fever of his is still hanging around, but it's down a bit more from what it has been. And that's it, okay? Are you satisfied? Is that good enough for you? Have you made me seem insane enough for one day?"

The cat blinked at Don, then stood and walked into the room. It gathered itself into a crouch and leapt onto the bed.

Don frowned and reached to push the cat off the bed. "Hey, get off of there. Leo doesn't need to get stepped on."

The cat hissed and batted Don's hand away, then carefully minced its way up to the pillow. Sniffing delicately, it worked its way around Leo's face, seeming to inspect the sleeping turtle for itself. It then jumped down and wound itself around Don's ankles, purring contentedly. Its tail in the air, the cat pranced lightly out of the room.

The purple-clad turtle stared after it in disbelief. "I'm being second-guessed in my medical diagnosis by a _cat_. There is something deeply and seriously wrong about this." A rustling noise caught Don's attention. As he turned to look at his brother, Leo began shifting slightly on the bed, the most movement he'd shown since they'd brought him home. Don grabbed his hand and squeezed it, trying to will his brother awake. "Leo? Leo, can you hear me? It's Don. Try and open your eyes, bro."

Don smiled in relief as Leo's eyes slowly fluttered open, and he quickly grabbed a glass of water from the bedside table. Propping Leo up, he held the glass to his brother's mouth. "I want you to drink this for me, okay Leo?" The fevered turtle managed about half of the glass before turning his head away. Don laid him back down and set the glass aside, glad that Leo had at least gotten some fluids into him. Placing a hand on his brother's forehead, he frowned concernedly at the heat emanating into his palm. _Damn…I guess the fever hasn't broken like I thought._ "How are you feeling, bro?"

Leo's head lolled to the side as he turned to look at his brother. Don felt his stomach clench at the hazy, fever-filled eyes now locked on his. A smile slowly formed on Leo's face.

"I loved her…did you know that?"

Don stared at his brother in confusion until the words sunk in and connected with everything that had happened. As things clarified, Don swallowed hard. _Oh no…he can't mean that…_ "What are you talking about, Leo?" he asked, hoping he hadn't heard his brother right.

"Karai…I loved her. And—an' it was so funny, 'cause you know what? It turns out that she loved me too."

"…Leo, I—" Don felt his heart crack slightly in pain for his brother. "I'm sorry, Leo."

"I killed her. I loved her, and I killed her. That—that's not s'posed to happen, right? That can't be right, can it? I _killed_ her; I loved her, but I killed her. That's…I'm sure that's not right. But that's what I was s'posed to do, right? So Sensei should be happy. That—that'll make everything okay, right?"

Don swallowed hard. "Sure, Leo. You—you did really well, bro; you can rest now."

"Rest…" Leo repeated, his gaze drifting around the room erratically. "Resting means stopping…can I stop, Don?"

"Stop what, bro?"

"Just—just stop. I'm really…tired. I want to stop—stop doing what hurts."

The purple-banded turtle tried for a reassuring smile. "That sounds fine, Leo."

A disbelieving smile curled the edges of Leo's mouth. "So I can stop waking up?"

Don felt his heart stop. "What—?" He shook his head frantically. "No, Leo. _No_."

"But it hurts. You said I could stop doing what hurts."

"Leo—"

"It _hurts_, Don. Right now—_everything hurts_. I wake up, and I—I think, and I remember, and everything I think about and remember hurts."

Don shook his head again firmly. "Not living is _not_ the answer, Leo. _Running_ from this is not the answer. You're going to get well, and live, and eventually, I promise you'll get over this…at least the broken heart part. Trust me, Leo; I know about that at least. But you have to live for it to stop hurting."

"I didn't say I wanted to die," Leo objected. "I just don't want to be awake anymore." A petulant, challenging look took the place of his fuzzy expression of pain. "Besides, you can't tell me what to do; I'm older than you."

"Leo, look—"

"I'm tired of people telling me what to do. I…I've always listened, always done what I'm s'posed to do, while you guys have always gotten to do what you wanted. Do you know what I wanted, Don? I wanted to love someone, and have that someone love me too. And then I actually got that, and you all told me to kill her. And I listened. All I want now is to just stop; why can't you let me do that? There's nothing you need me for anymore; there aren't anymore Shredders, and the Foot are gonna disappear somehow. My dream told me so. So why can't I disappear too?"

"Because we need you, Leo," Don said adamantly. "Not as a leader, but as a brother. We need you, and we want you around."

Leo just stared at his brother. "What about what _I_ want? All these years, I've tried to make sure that you guys got what you wanted, so what about what _I_ want?"

"Do you really want to stop living, Leo?" Don demanded. "Staying in your room sleeping your life away, refusing to come out or do anything because it hurts too much would be just the same as dying. You might still be alive, but you wouldn't be really _living_ anymore. You'd just be giving up. Do you really want to just give up, to go out of this world having known nothing but battles and pain and loss?" He grabbed Leo's hand and held on tightly. "We are so close to being free, Leo; to not having to fight anymore, to seeing what it's like to have things be _good_ for us. You did that, bro; you gave us that. Do you really want to let go of the chance of living in peace before you ever even get to experience it? Is that what you really want?"

"What I want…?" Leo trailed off, Don's words seeming to kindle a spark in his eyes. "No…" he said finally. "I…I want to see that. I want…peace. I want…I want to stop fighting, and hating, and…killing." Those glassy eyes rolled back to lock onto Don's once more, fatigue taking Leo over again. "Please don't make me kill anyone I love anymore."

Don felt the crack in his heart grow bigger. "If it's in my power, I swear I won't, Leo," he vowed softly. "I'll kill for you instead, so that you don't have to. If it comes down to it, I'm willing to do that."

Leo stared at him for a minute, his fever-riddled brain switching gears again quickly. "No," he said, shaking his head. "I'm the big brother. I'm s'posed to kill so you don't have to."

"Hey, Leo." Don squeezed Leo's hand. "Don't worry about it, okay? You're right; for all these years, you've done everything and more to keep us from getting hurt, to protect us. Well, now you're hurt, so let _us_ protect _you_ for a change.

"Can you make me forget her?" Leo asked fuzzily.

Don shook his head sadly. "No, I can't, Leo."

"I didn't think so." Leo trailed off, then looked back at his brother. "I wanna bring her back, Don. We—we could try again. I killed her; I did what Sensei wanted, so it's all okay now, right? We could try again, couldn't we?"

Don swallowed hard, struggling to hold back the tears building behind his eyes. He finally cleared his throat enough to speak, his voice soft. "I don't think we can, Leo," he said thickly. "I'm sorry."

"We—we could try…" Leo's eyes began to flutter, exhaustion pulling him under again.

"No, Leo. It's over. She…Karai's gone, for good. It's over."

"…Why? All of this, all of it…why?"

"I don't know, Leo; I just don't know." He stood jerkily, unable to stay any longer. "But I do know that you can let it all go now, Leo. You don't have to hate her any longer; you can just love her now."

"Just love her…" Leo looked at Don through rapidly closing eyes. "Promise?" he asked, already nearly asleep by the time the word left his lips.

A single tear escaped and made its way down Don's cheek. "I promise, Leo," he vowed softly to his brother as he turned off the light and left the room. Just before Don closed the door, he heard Leo murmur again quietly.

"I'm allowed…to love her…Don said so…"

Another tear fell.

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Raph walked into the Lair, stretching widely. He'd spent the last couple hours prowling around the sewers, trying to work off some of his frustration. As much as he'd wanted to, he'd kept himself from going topside to look for a fight; as Mikey had said, the city was going to be nasty for a while after this…at least at night. Despite that, he'd been glad to take a break from the constant apprehension that permeated the old foundry. As was quickly becoming the norm, the Lair was oppressively quiet, which only helped to reinforce the uneasy feeling hanging in the air. Raph scowled, some of the tension already seeping back into his muscles. Muttering to himself, he headed to the dojo. It wasn't until he was nearly at the door that he became aware of the sound of someone already whaling on the punching bag. Confused, he peered into the room.

Don was inside, furiously attacking the punching bag. The sheer anger that Raph could see in his brother's strikes shocked him; Don's temper rarely snapped, so it was always surprising when it did. Walking into the room, he coughed into his fist, alerting his brother of his presence.

His effort was ignored.

Raph frowned and walked carefully around his brother until he'd positioned himself in Don's field of view, though he kept away from the swinging bag and flying fists. When Don still didn't speak, Raph broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Yo, Donnie, what's up? This ain't exactly where I'd expect to find ya lately."

"Leo woke up," Don ground out curtly.

"He did? That's great!" Raph started out of the dojo to go look at Leo, then paused when he got no response from Don. Turning around, he watched his brother in confusion. The purple-banded turtle ignored him, continuing to attack the battered punching bag. "Uh, did I miss somethin', Don? Did somethin' happen while I was gone that made Leo wakin' up become a bad thing?"

No response came, except for an increase in the speed of Don's attacks.

Raph's brow lowered in concern, and he walked up behind his brother. "Hey, Donnie, what's up?" He set a gentle hand on Don's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"…What's wrong?" Don repeated, his voice low and shaking with emotion.

"Yeah, is Leo—"

Leo's name seemed to make Don snap, because he whirled around, throwing Raph's hand off and glaring at his brother. "Is he _what_? Is he _okay_?!" Don snarled, his voice rising to a shout. "No, he's _not_ okay, Raph! And he's not going to _be_ okay for a long time!"

Raph stepped back, shocked at the force of Don's anger and concerned by his words. "What are ya talkin' about, Don? I thought you said he woke up."

Don remained tense and shaking for another minute before his rage bled away, leaving him to turn away with a curse. He turned his shell to Raph, delivering one last blow to the punching bag. "He loved her, Raph," he finally said softly, pain etching the words. "Leo loved Karai. And—and she loved him too."

"Wait, _what_?" The words rang heavily in Raph's head. "No way. I know Mikey was goin' on about that, but he was prob'ly just seein' things."

"It's true. He did love her, and he still does. He told me so himself."

"But he—they—" Dozens of memories of things Leo had said and done came back, and now they seemed to make sense. So, too, did Karai's actions. All the truces they both tried to keep, how heated the fights always got between them…Past and present connected, and Raph could feel his heart sink into his stomach as everything clicked. "Aw, no…But Leo…"

"Yeah," Don said dully. "He killed her."

"But—but he had to, Don," Raph blurted, trying to justify what had happened for all of them. "He _had_ to; it was the only way. She woulda just kept comin' after us until she killed us. I mean—I mean, _hell_, Don, she almost killed him. Lots of times, an' especially now."

Don sighed, covering his face with one hand. "I know that, Raph. We all know that. Hell, even Leo knows that." He looked up tiredly. "But do you honestly think that changes anything? Do you think that makes this any easier for him? Do you think that makes it hurt any less? It doesn't. It can't, and it doesn't. All that that knowledge does, I think, is help Leo justify things enough to be able to stand what all has happened."

"He loved her…and, and _she_ loved _him_?" Raph repeated dazedly. "An' then…damn…" He rubbed the back of his head, unable to keep himself from somehow feeling guilty. "What are we gonna do, Don? How the shell are we s'posed to help him through somethin' like this?"

"I don't know, Raph. I can restart a still heart…but I can't heal a broken one."

"Shell…" Raph shook his head, then looked at Don quizzically. "I can't believe he actually told ya that."

"I'm not sure how much of it was him and how much was the fever talking," Don admitted. "It _is_ a good sign that he woke up, because it means the fever might be close to breaking, but it's still affecting him. I don't think he knew half of what he was saying."

Raph rubbed his temples. "What else did he say?"

Don shook his head. "It…a lot of it was the fever, Raph. But…this, all of this, is and has been bothering him a lot more than we thought. I know Karai was our enemy, and Leo does too; but she was important to him, she was something he never thought he'd have, and he lost that. And by his own hand, too. It's a lot to deal with. Listen, I'm going to go for a walk, just through the sewers. I just need to get away for a while. Keep an eye on Leo for me, would you?"

"A walk, huh?" Part of Raph wanted to refuse until he got some answers, but he'd rarely seen Don this upset. "Guilt trip?" he asked shrewdly.

"No, I just—" Raph's hard look silenced Don's denial. He sighed. "Maybe a little," the brainy turtle admitted quietly. "I _know_ it wasn't our fault about Karai…but I still can't help but feel like—I don't know, like we should have supported the thought of the two of them more."

"Don, it never coulda worked. They had a clan feud and blood debts between 'em; there wasn't room fer anythin' else."

"I know that, Raph," Don protested. "But still…shouldn't we have seen this sooner? We all thought Leo was just being stubborn, or too trustful, or he was just refusing to admit he was wrong…what does it say about us and how well we know him that we didn't realize until now that he did what he did because he loved Karai?"

"But…" Raph fell silent. Don's words sunk in, and the guilty knot in Raph's stomach tightened some more. He swore tiredly. "Damn, do I feel like an ass."

"Join the club," Don joked weakly.

"Membership is free," Raph quipped dryly back at his brother. He sighed. "Yer right, Don, this is a shit load to think about. Yeah, I'll watch 'im. Go take a break."

"Thanks, Raph," Don said gratefully. "I'll have my Shell Cell on, and I'll stay fairly close in case anything might happen."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it, Don. Go on, get outta here."

Don turned to leave, then faced his brother again. "Oh, yeah, before I forget. Raph, one more thing. If the cat asks about Leo, let him know he woke up. Don't be surprised if he doesn't believe you; the stupid thing wouldn't listen to me earlier until he'd checked Leo over for himself." With a wave, Don walked out the door into the sewers.

Raph stared at his brother's retreating shell, trying to process his words.

"If the cat does _what_?"

As though he'd called for it, the black and white stray that Mikey had insisted saved Leo came walking out of the kitchen. Stopping a few feet away, it sat down and stared at Raph. The red-banded turtle stared back at it in bewilderment. The staring contest continued until the cat meowed impatiently. Raph raised an eye ridge, then spoke hesitantly. "Um, Don says that Leo woke up."

Loud purring rumbled from the cat's throat before it darted off to the infirmary, leaving Raph staring after it in a daze.

"What the _hell_?"

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Raph sighed as he walked towards the infirmary. Ever since Leo had woken up and talked to Don three days ago, everyone had been even more anxious than ever, hoping that it meant Leo was about to wake up for good. But the small break in their luck seemed to be a fluke; all Leo had done since then was fall back into the deep sleep he'd spent the last week in. Raph pushed the door open, then stopped in surprise.

Leo was slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position on the bed. When he heard Raph enter, he gave a small smile. "Hey, Raph," he said quietly, his voice husky with sleep and discomfort. "Long time no see."

"Leo!" Raph flew into the room, crushing his brother into a one-armed hug. His hand then went immediately to Leo's forehead, nearly slamming his brother back down onto the bed in his haste to check Leo's temperature. "Yer fever's gone!

"Yeah, but it's going to come back if I don't get these stupid blankets off," Leo grumbled, pushing weakly at the folds of cloth lying on top of him. "You guys must have been trying to smother me in my sleep."

"Hey, none'a that, bro," Raph objected. "Yer just gettin' over bein' sick, ya need ta keep those blankets on." He twitched the layers back up over his brother, though he left one down at Leo's beseeching look. He gave a lopsided grin as he handed Leo a glass of water. "I don't think any of us could take you gettin' sick again. And besides, if it happened on my watch, Don would prob'ly kill me once he got back."

Leo downed the glass thirstily, and nodded his thanks as Raph refilled it. He sipped the water slowly this time. "Got back? Where's he at, anyways?"

Raph shifted uncomfortably. "He's out on a walk. He's been doin' that a lot lately, just needin' some time."

"Walking where? What's wrong?"

"Just in the sewers, don't worry," Raph said quickly, seeing Leo's alarm. "It's just…you kinda unloaded a lotta stuff on 'im the last time you woke up."

"When was that?"

"About three days ago. You've been out cold since then, and it's been a week since we brought ya back home."

Leo frowned slightly. "What did I say?"

Raph glanced at his brother in surprise. "Ya don't remember?"

"I only remember some things about the past week, like random times of being aware of someone's presence in the room and hearing people talk, but everything since I collapsed in the alley is really blurry. I…I remember talking about Karai…" Leo groaned quietly and put a hand to his head. "I spilled a lot, didn't I?"

"That's one way of puttin' it. Apparently there was a lot about the situation that we never guessed, an' that you never talked about." Raph paused, then looked down at the floor. "So, ya loved her, huh?"

Leo looked up in shock. "I said that?" he whispered.

"Among other things. Ya also mentioned that it wasn't one-sided, which was some _more_ news." Raph couldn't help sending a slightly resentful glare at Leo. "Seems like the only way you'll open up to us is if yer delirious."

Leo sighed and met Raph's eyes. "What good would it have done if I'd told you how I felt about Karai? You just would've yelled about how stupid it was, that she was the enemy, that I couldn't trust her—"

"Which is all true," Raph interrupted testily.

"I know that, Raphael," Leo snapped. "Do you really think I'm so stupid that I wouldn't see that? All along I've known that, and it didn't change things. It wouldn't have changed anything if it came from you, either." Pain filled his eyes and face. "Sometimes knowing the truth about what you're doing doesn't make any difference. Does knowing that we'll get hurt stop us from trying to bring down Bishop? Does knowing that no one will thank us stop us from protecting the people of this city? No, it doesn't…just like knowing about Karai doesn't change how I feel. I tried to stop—stop loving her, stop caring about her, but I just…I just couldn't." He leaned his head back, closing his eyes. "Please, Raph, I don't want to talk about this right now," Leo said quietly. "I—I still need to deal with it before I can try to talk about it."

Raph swore silently. _I just keep screwin' this up, don't I? Leo just frickin' woke up, an' here I am, gettin' on his case about this. Dammit._ "Look, Leo, I'm…sorry, bro. I didn't mean ta bust yer ass like this first thing after ya woke up."

"Planned on waiting a couple days instead?" Leo asked dryly.

"What? No, I—"

"I know it's difficult to accept, Raph, but what I said…it's true."

"Yeah…" Raph rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. "Look, Leo, about…about everything, with Karai—" He swallowed, trying to think of the woman as the person Leo loved, not the enemy that tried to kill them all. "I'm sorry that it…didn't work out. And that I…I'm sorry, bro."

"Me, too, Raph," Leo whispered. "Me too."

A minute passed quietly as both brothers tried to regain their footing emotionally, and Raph broke the awkward silence. "Well, since I'm doin' a good job of screwin' this up, you ready for some different company, bro?"

Leo managed a small, rueful smile. "Ready or not, it's coming anyways, isn't it?"

Raph grinned, relieved at Leo's mood change. "Damn straight." He hesitated, then clapped a warm hand on Leo's shoulder, squeezing affectionately. "It's been a hell of a long week, bro, hopin' you'd pull through this. But you recovered like ya always do." Raph snickered and let go of his brother. "Yer one stubborn son of a bitch, Leo; an' this is one of those times I'm actually glad about that."

His words got a laugh out of Leo. "Thanks, I think." He trailed off, a thoughtful look coming over his face. "Recovery…that sounds familiar for some reason…"

"You heard that?" Raph asked, surprised.

Leo glanced up. "Yeah, I think I remember hearing something like that while I was under. What was it?"

"Huh. Well, I'll be damned; he actually got through to ya." A small smile curled up the edges of Raph's mouth. "That, bro, was part of a pretty frickin' good speech from everybody's favorite resident chucklehead."

"Mikey?" Leo asked.

"Right in one. Ask 'im to tell it to ya sometime. But fer now, I can think of a few people who'd be glad ta know you're up."

Leo smiled. "As long as no one jumps on me, you can send in as many people as you want," he joked, placing a hand gently over his side.

"We'll put Mikey on a leash, then," Raph laughed. "I'll be back in a sec." Walking out of Leo's door, he made his way to the living room, where the rest of the family was waiting.

Don looked up when he heard Raph's footsteps. "Well? Any change?" he asked hopefully.

"You could say that." Raph couldn't help the grin that broke out across his face. "Leo's fever broke."

Everyone in the room cheered in relief.

"Was there anything else you wished to add, my son?" Splinter asked, leveling a knowing look at his second eldest.

Raph's grin grew as Splinter guessed that he was hiding something. "Well, there _was_ one more thing…"

"Leo's awake."

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**A/N: Oi, this was another long one. I don't know why, but this sucker was hard to write; partly because of all the dialogue, and partly because I've been trying to work on this in between getting ready to head back to college. But it's done, so yay! In other news, there's been some changes on the story; namely, me completely reformatting the end. XD Don't worry, it's still going to end in basically the same way, the ending will just be a little more open, and it's only going to be ten chapters long, with "Chapter 11" turning into an epilogue. Anyways, this 'twas a slow chapter, though it at least ended well. And it's all downhill from here, action-wise, though there will be some excitement in Chapter 10. None of you will have seen it coming! Mwa ha ha ha ha:D That's all I can really think of, other than to say that I will do my best to get Chapter 9 up as quickly as possible, and mucho gracias to everyone for sticking with me this far. If there are any mistakes, please let me know, and I hope this didn't drag too much. Please review, and take care!**


	9. Let the Healing Start

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Ninja Turtles. Why? Because I'm not motivated. XD_

_First things first…_

_I AM SOOOOO SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel unbelievably bad about how long it's been since I last updated, but this new semester has been crazy. My classes have been a lot busier than I expected, and the homework/exams/studying required for all of them is taking over my life. I have still been working on this, but it's been admittedly slow, as you guys could probably tell by how long this has taken. I promise, for anyone who wants to kill me for how long this has taken, after I finish the story, I will give out my address so that you guys know where to find me and beat me up. Honest. . I hate how long this has dangled for, but my schoolwork has to come first, unfortunately._

_Next, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: **RandomlyInsaneWhitePony, The Burninator Named Trogdor, Tristripe, BubblyShell22, **and **Amberli Raven.**_

_Once again, I am so sorry for how long this took. And I will not let it happen again. Spring Break is coming up in two weeks, so hopefully I can knock out a good portion of the story during that time. Please bear with me through this, and thank you so much for sticking with me this long. Sorry again, and please enjoy._

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"Leonardo is awake?" Splinter asked. At Raph's nod, he smiled and sighed. "That is indeed good news."

Don and Mikey both spoke at the same time as soon as Splinter finished.

"Can we go see him?"

Raph shrugged. "Don't see why not. He seems like he'll be up fer at least a little while. You comin' too, Sensei?"

Splinter shook his head. "I shall go see Leonardo after you three are finished. Go. Spend some time with your brother, but do not tire him out. He has only just awakened."

The three of them bowed and headed for Leo's room. They all paused instinctively at the door; normally only one of them was in the room at a time, because the emotions felt in that room were too deep, too personal to reveal. Raph moved first, sighing at himself and his brothers. A small grin crept onto his face and he gave a small shove to Mikey's shell; the youngest turtle was lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement.

Mikey looked back at Raph and at his nod shoved the door open.

Leo was in bed as usual, smiling tiredly at them and looking somehow smaller…

But _awake_.

Mikey's grin nearly split his face, and he charged towards his brother. "Leo!"

"Woah!" Raph darted forward, grabbing Mikey's arm and jerking his younger brother to a stop. "Hey, Mikey, he's hurt, remember?"

"Oh shell." Don pushed past his brothers, moving quickly to the supply cabinet. "Leo, I'm so sorry, I forgot the pain medicine. You were unconscious and so low on blood, and your body couldn't handle the medicine and—"

"Don." The quiet voice stilled the purple-banded turtle's rambling. Leo gave a tight smile. "It's okay, bro. I haven't exactly been…awake recently, so it didn't really matter. But I'd…appreciate it now," he said carefully, breathing shallowly through the pain in his side.

"Not a problem." Don pulled out a full syringe and carefully injected it into his brother's arm. As soon as he was finished, he smiled and squeezed Leo's shoulder. "Sorry again, bro. That should kick in pretty soon."

"Thanks. So how—"

Leo got no further before a blur of white and black shot into the room and jumped up onto the end of the bed. The blue-banded turtle broke off in surprise and stared at the cat sitting on his feet.

"Um…did somebody dye Klunk?" he asked.

Three green heads shook a negative.

"Okay…then this is…?"

"_That_ is the devil's cat," Raph grumbled, glaring at the cat as it walked up the length of the bed and carefully curled up on Leo's lap.

"For once, I will actually agree with you, Raph," Don said.

"What?" Leo asked, confused.

"They're just being judgmental," Mikey piped up. "He saved you, bro. He showed me where you were in that alley."

"Really?" Leo glanced down at the cat and smiled a little, then stroked it gently. "Well, then I suppose I owe you a thank you, huh? What's so bad about him?" he asked as he looked up. "He seems really well-behaved."

Raph snorted. "It's an act. This is one'a the few times it ain't been buggin' me," he replied.

"It also didn't believe me when I told it how you were doing," Don added.

Leo just stared at him.

"I'm not as crazy as that makes me sound!" Don protested at the strange looks he was getting. "Ask Mikey what the cat does!"

Mikey grinned at his brother's aggravation. "Don really isn't crazy; at least not this time," he said jokingly to Leo. "This little guy kept coming by the room while you were out of it, and he wouldn't leave until we told him you were alright. Donnie's just mad 'cause the cat wouldn't listen to him."

"I _told_ him how you were doing," Don grumbled, shooting a disdainful look at the cat. "But _no_, he had to check for himself."

Leo chuckled slightly at his brother's irritation. "Well, it never hurts to get a second opinion. So other than that, what's he like?"

"Annoyin'," Raph offered.

"Cute," Mikey protested in defense.

"Smart," Don admitted grudgingly. "Even beyond the whole "checking up" on you thing. Every time after he's ticked Raph off, he always heads straight for Master Splinter. Somehow he found that Sensei has a soft spot for him."

Leo laughed again. "So you _are_ a crafty little fellow, aren't you?" he asked the cat admiringly.

The cat purred and rubbed his head against Leo's hand.

"Hey, never underestimate the importance of good survival instincts," Mikey said with a grin.

"So what're ya gonna call 'im?" Raph asked.

Leo studied the cat, then smiled. "Well, if he really is as much of a rogue as you guys say, then I think…Chame."

"'Mischief'?" Don translated with a smirk. "Fits perfectly if you ask me."

Mikey sighed and scratched the cat on the head. "Poor little guy," he said with dramatic sympathy. "Just like me…so misunderstood."

"Misunderstood?" Raph snorted derisively. "No one understands ya in the first place, chucklehead, so what is there ta _mis_understand?"

"Plenty!" Mikey said defensively. "I'm an extremely deep turtle, I'll have you know."

"Deep?" Raph laughed. "Yer about as deep as a kiddy pool, Mikey."

"C'mon, guys, pack it in," Don sighed, smiling despite himself.

"How are you all doing?" Leo asked when they quieted. "Is everyone okay?"

Raph sighed. "We're fine, bro. Not a scratch on us other'n what we have from gettin' drugged."

"What happened to you guys?" Leo asked suddenly. "That night, after we got drugged…what happened?"

"Not much, honestly," Don offered. "Not that we were awake for, anyway. Sensei told us what went down. Apparently, Karai had the three of us bugged, and then called Sensei to come get us, saying she'd kill us if he didn't. That way, she could find out where the Lair was and…"

"Yeah, she told me that part…" Leo murmured, his tone subdued.

Don coughed awkwardly. "Anyways, they found the bugs and got them off, then brought us home. It took us a while to recover from the sedative, but then we went out looking for you. We found the building where you and Karai fought, and then followed our intuition. After that, we combed the alleys between Foot headquarters and the Lair, and then we found you."

Leo sighed. "I'm glad that everything worked out. That's a relief."

The mention of what happened silenced them all, until Mikey broke the silence.

"Hey, Leo?" Mikey piped up cautiously. When the blue-banded turtle looked at him silently, he continued. "What…what happened to you that night?"

When Leo hesitated, Raph spoke up as well. "Fair's fair, bro," he said gruffly, folding his arms. "We filled ya in on our little evenin' of fun, now it's your turn."

Leo smiled slightly. "All's fair in love and war," he mused quietly. "…Okay." He took a breath and began slowly.

"I know you guys know what happened up until the rooftop. After you got darted, Karai sedated me too. When I woke up…you were gone. I was alone with Karai somewhere in an older section of town on one of the rooftops. I didn't recognize where we were. I was nearly out of my mind with worry; Karai told me what had happened to you…and what she planned to have happen."

"An' ya actually believed her?" Raph asked.

"It was so easy to, Raph," Leo pointed out. "Her plan sounded seamless, and it was so easy to imagine going back home and seeing everything destroyed, just like when I got back from Japan. I couldn't think of anything to do but to fight her; I was so sure you were dead…all I had left was to avenge you."

Mikey watched the expressions chase across Leo's face and spoke up again, trying to distract the eldest from his thoughts. "So that's when you guys fought?"

"No," Leo said quietly. "Not for a while. Which was fortunate, since I was still trying to shake off the effects of the sedative."

Raph raised an eye derisively. "An' Karai just waited for ya? How polite."

Leo glanced away. "We had a lot to talk about," he murmured. "It was the same for both of us; more than each other's death, we wanted some answers."

"To which questions?" Don asked softly.

"To all of them. There was…so much that neither of us understood, so many questions we had…but there was too much blood between us, too much to be washed away by any kind of answer. We said…a lot of things, everything we thought we needed to say. And then we fought. It was fine until she sliced my leg. It was bleeding pretty heavily from all the movement, and I lost my balance when I stepped in it. Karai went in for the kill, and then…she stopped."

All three of his brother's eyes widened. "What?"

"She actually stopped?" Raph repeated in disbelief. "You gotta be shittin' me."

"I'm not. She pulled her strike. And I thought…I thought that was it, that she had finally made her choice…and she had. Just…not the one I'd been hoping for. She finished her attack." Leo traced his hand down the line of bandages on his plastron. "That's when she got me in the side. It hurt like hell, even more than my shell wound. It just…burned all over."

Don murmured sympathetically. "That's not surprising. There are a lot of nerves there."

"Yeah…"

"So what happened next?" Mikey asked carefully.

"I…I stabbed her. It was a gut strike…it ended things. We both just kind of stopped then. Neither of could move very well, and we were both bleeding too much to want to. More things were said, and then…she died. I couldn't just leave her there, so I took her back to Foot headquarters. She deserved a burial, and I couldn't give that to her."

Raph sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "She almost killed ya, bro," he pointed out as tactfully as he could.

Leo met his brother's eyes. "I know that, Raph, but it's hard to be mad at…a corpse," he said quietly, looking away. "So I took her back. After that, I tried to head home, but I only made it to that alley; that was all the farther I could go. You know the rest."

"I'm sorry, bro," Mikey said quietly, breaking the silence of the room.

"Me too, Mikey," Leo whispered, his eyelids lowering. "But it had to happen."

Don put a gentle hand on Leo's shoulder. "Why don't you get some more sleep, Leo," he suggested. "That medicine is probably going to hit you pretty hard now. I'll go grab Sensei so you can see him before—"

"No."

"No?" Don asked, confused. "What do you mean, Leo?"

"I—I don't want to see him."

"Leo, what—"

"Please. I can't—I can't talk to him. Not now. Not yet. I don't—I don't want to say anything I will regret later. I don't want to talk to him, not until I no longer blame him. Please. I just—need some time."

"Don't worry about it, Leo," Don said quietly, placing a comforting hand on Leo's shoulder. "We'll take care of it."

"Thanks," Leo whispered, his eyes falling shut.

Don motioned towards the door with his head, and the three of them filed out of the room silently.

"Guys?" Mikey spoke up quietly.

Raph and Don both turned to look at their younger brother. "What is it, Mikey?"

"You…you don't think Leo really blames Sensei, do you?"

The two older turtles were both silent.

"He might," Don answered softly. "Leo is used to assigning blame to actions; if he does something wrong and someone gets hurt, it's automatically his fault. That's just the way he thinks. And he thinks that way all the time, that it's _his_ fault…he rarely blames other people. But this time…maybe he actually looked at it this time and realized it wasn't his fault. We all know Leo gave Karai a lot of chances to change, but whether she did or not was out of his control. Subconsciously, he might have realized that he did all he could. But again, he's used to painful results being the consequence of someone's actions. I don't think he blames himself, and I'm somewhat sure he doesn't blame Karai, so then…" Don sighed and shrugged. "We're left with a Romeo and Juliet scenario."

Mikey and Raph just stared at their brother.

"Um, Don, that didn't make much sense," Raph said slowly.

Don smiled sadly. "In Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet loved each other. They were a wonderful couple, they were willing to do anything to be together, and their worlds revolved around each other. The only thing that stood in the way of them being together…"

"Was their families," Mikey finished quietly.

"Right," Don agreed. "Leo knows, at least on some level, that this isn't his fault, and he's not willing to blame Karai either. So that leaves…"

"Shredder and Master Splinter?" Raph asked in disbelief. "You gotta be kiddin' me, Donnie."

Don shrugged. "I'm just guessing here, Raph. Leo is used to responsibility, but for him, blame has always gone hand in hand with that." The purple-banded turtle looked back at his oldest brother and felt something pull at his heart.

"He hasn't fully learned yet that sometimes pain is just the result of a bad twist of fate."

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Don frowned at the text blinking on the screen. _'Encoding error…insufficient data.' Insufficient data? Okay, fine. But in which line?_

"Hey, Donnie?" Mikey's voice came from behind Don's chair hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Um, there's something I wanna ask you about."

"Can you—" Don was about to ask his brother if it could wait until later, when he remembered what he and Raph had overheard Mikey saying the other day. At that, he saved his project and faced his brother. "What is it?"

"Okay…" Mikey took a deep breath. "I wasn't really planning on doing this now, 'cause I know it's probably too early for him, but I was thinking that maybe in a couple days, you know, when he's had a little time to deal with everything, that maybe it might be a good idea."

Don stared at his brother blankly. "Um…what are you talking about, Mikey?"

Mikey glanced down at his hands, then handed a videotape to his brother.

The purple-banded turtle took the tape, looking at Mikey in confusion. "What's this?"

"It's…" Mikey looked up at Don uncertainly before continuing. "It's a recording of Karai's funeral. I taped it when they showed it on the news the other day. I thought—I thought Leo should see it, or that he might _want_ to see it, at least. What do you think?"

Don looked at the tape silently, remembering what Leo had said. The pain in Leo's voice and expression still remained fixed in Don's memory, as did his words. Several minutes passed as Don contemplated Mikey's question. He finally handed the tape back to his brother.

"Donnie?"

"Show Leo the tape," Don said quietly. "But wait a few days; he only woke up the day before yesterday, and he needs to try and come to terms with what happened before he can see something like this. But show it to him. It was a good idea to tape this, Mikey; I think it would do Leo good to see this. He…he'll need the closure."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. But like I said, give him some time. He only just woke up."

Mikey nodded. "Yeah." He stood and tucked the tape under his arm, grinning slightly at Don as he left. "Thanks, bro."

Don watched as his brother left, then sighed, closing his program down as his mind refused to focus; once again, he was too busy thinking about Leo.

They were out of the danger zone now, and technically had been since Leo's fever broke and he woke up. It had been two days since then, and given how much the turtle disliked the infirmary, Don had had Leo moved to his own room. It was a slow trip, though; while Leo's wounds had begun healing during his week of unconsciousness, they still had a ways to go, and he was still weak from the blood loss.

As they had quickly learned, Leo was far from better. He was normally awake only about six hours a day; he'd wake up about twice a day for three hours. They would cajole (or in Raph's case, threaten) him into eating, then help him to the bathroom. After that, it was straight back to sleep; the exertion of walking, despite the brevity of the trip, still exhausted him. Beyond that, Don knew, Leo's body was still trying to replace the dangerous amount of blood that he'd lost. His wounds were doing well, aided by the sleep and Leo's natural good health; the slice in his leg was nearly closed, and the stitches would be removed in a few days. Leo's side still worried the brainy turtle; thin or not, the wound had been deep. Don had removed the stitches earlier that day, and the cut had essentially healed, at least on the surface. Leo was still hesitant to move much, though, since the injury constantly pulled even at the slightest motion. But with the blood loss, Leo was still far enough from his normal strength level that he was willing to spend most of the day sleeping.

Physically, Leo was recovering well.

Emotionally, though…

_Emotionally, who can tell?_ Don mused wearily to himself. Like usual, Leo was keeping his feelings to himself. Another sigh escaped the purple-banded turtle. Other than what he'd told them after he woke up, Leo hadn't really said anything. They could all tell that things were still bothering him, though; after so many years living together, they could all at least tell _when_ Leo was hiding something, even if they couldn't figure out _what_.

This time, though, it was easy to figure out the source of Leo's problems. Don, Raph and Mikey knew what a sensitive subject Karai was for their brother, and as such, though they often came to talk to him, none of them mentioned the _kunoichi_. They were trying to run interference for him with Splinter as well; despite when the rat occasionally stopped in to check on him, Leo saw little of their father.

Don sighed, trying to organize his thoughts. _I know Leo asked for some time in order to come to grips with things, but putting this off isn't going to help. And Raph and Mikey aren't that keen on continuing to keep Splinter in the dark either._ He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

_In this family, if it's not one thing, it's another._

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Mikey sighed as he paced another lap of his room. He'd been trying to figure out when to show the tape to Leo, and he still wasn't sure. He sighed expansively and flopped down on his bed.

_It's been four days since Leo woke up…is that enough time?_

The orange-banded turtle had begun to feel anxious about showing the tape to his older brother, despite his equal concern to make sure Leo was ready for it. The atmosphere in the Lair was still subdued; they could all tell Leo still wasn't over what had happened. Unfortunately, he didn't even seem to be recovering from it at all.

Another sigh.

_Patience is a virtue. I don't wanna push this on Leo if it's too soon. Patience is a virtue._

Mikey turned his head to the side, only to open his eyes and end up staring at the tape.

_Okay, screw patience._

He grabbed the tape off his nightstand and made his way to Leo's room. Mikey took a deep breath and knocked on Leo's door smartly, then flung it open.

"Hey, Leo, I've got something—"

The room was empty.

"…to show you." Mikey gave a strangled groan and slammed his head into the door. "This is just great. I can't even find an invalid turtle."

Making his way out of Leo's room, he ambled towards Don's lab, intent on finding Leo, when he saw a familiar blue bandana above the back of the couch. He grinned. _Finally._

"Hey, how're you doin', Leo?" Mikey asked as he draped himself over the back of the couch.

"Pretty good, considering."

Mikey grinned. "I'll say. It looks like 'The Warden' let you out of your cell," he joked.

Leo laughed. "Yeah, I'm on parole for good behavior."

Don leaned around the corner, directing a glare at his brothers at the nickname. "'The Warden' would appreciate a little more gratefulness and quiet, unless you _both_ want to be molecularly deconstructed and then put in solitary."

"I'm grateful, really!" Leo insisted. "I appreciate getting out of my room."

"And I'll do the quiet thing," Mikey added quickly. "I like my molecules where they are; you know, all solid and keeping me alive? Yeah, it's pretty cool."

Don shook his head and disappeared back into his workroom. "You are both very lucky that I am not an actual warden, because if I _was_, I probably would have shorted out my taser on you two by now," he muttered.

Mikey snickered quietly. "He loves us, he just doesn't want to admit it," he told Leo assuredly. "So, whatcha doin'? Complicated meditation techniques? Unraveling the fabric of the universe with your mind? Trying to remember where you left your socks?"

Leo eyed his brother in amused disbelief. "You have way too much sugar in your diet. And actually, I'm just resting from the trip out here. I hate to say it, but I've got farther to go to get back to normal than I'd like to admit."

"Are your leg and side hurting you?" Mikey asked in concern.

"A little," Leo said, placing a gentle hand on the bandages that swathed his side. "My leg's still not up to fully supporting my weight, and my side…is kind of sore."

"Meaning it hurts like shell, but you're not gonna admit it 'cause then Donnie'll put you right back in bed, right?" Mikey translated. He smirked at his brother's look of surprise. "I know you're trying to hide it, bro, but I can tell it still hurts ya. You wince a lot whenever you're hauling yourself outta bed."

Leo sighed slightly. "Okay, yes, it still hurts. But if I stay in that bed anymore, I'm going to go insane."

"Stir crazy?" Mikey asked, grinning slightly. "You an' Raph have always been awful at understanding the whole 'stop-moving-so-you-stop-bleeding' concept."

"No, more like…thinking too much," Leo said quietly. "I…I feel like I've come to terms with what happened, with what was said, with what there was between me and Karai, but…I just still can't seem to let it go, to let _her_ go."

Mikey felt his heart tug slightly at the pain he could hear edging his brother's words. "No one said you had to let her go, Leo," he pointed out gently.

"I know. And—I don't want to, at least not like forgetting her. It's just—I don't know. I don't want to hold onto this like I did before…letting everything that went wrong poison me, but there's still so much—pain surrounding what happened to us. I feel like I need to lay her to rest. I feel like…like there's a door that's still open, but I'm not sure how to close it." Leo gave a short, dry laugh. "Doesn't make much sense, does it?"

Mikey didn't respond other than to snake his arm around Leo and give him a hug. When he pulled away, he moved towards the TV and popped a tape into the VCR.

Leo stared at his brother in confusion. "What's the tape for?"

"It's for you, bro," Mikey said, smiling at his brother as he left the room. "Just something to help you close that door."

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Leo watched Mikey leave the room. Apprehension stirred in his stomach as he processed his brother's words, but a flickering of sound called his attention back to the television.

The last half of a commercial flashed across the screen, followed by the familiar sound of a news jingle. A dark-haired man armed with papers appeared on the screen.

"_Good evening and thank you for joining us for the five o'clock news. Our big story for today is the coverage of the funeral service for one of New York's elite. The funeral service and burial of Ms. Oroku Karai took place yesterday evening at 7:30 at the North Main cemetery."_

_Oh no_. Leo froze as soon as he heard those words. Voices started warring in his head. _'I don't want to see this'_ clashed with _'I need to see this'_, freezing him in place as he tried to stabilize himself.

"_Many people questioned the event, given the scandal surrounding Ms. Oroku's father, the well-known businessman Oroku Saki. However, it seems as though none of that strangeness was part of his legacy; Ms. Oroku died on April 19th of natural causes. The coroner reports that she passed away rather suddenly due to complications of the heart."_

Leo gripped the arm of the couch, preparing to leave, when Mikey's words repeated themselves in Leo's head:

"_Something to help you close that door."_

So he stayed. As the rites were read, as the ceremony was concluded, and as the casket was lowered into the ground and covered with earth…

He stayed.

As the tape ended, Leo felt something within him crack. A sharp pain began growing in his chest as he carefully made his way to his room. He entered and quietly closed the door, then sat on his bed.

"Karai…" Leo whispered quietly to the darkness in his room, and another crack appeared in the defenses he'd raised. Ever since Leo had awoken, he had walled up his heart. He knew he needed to face what had happened, to actually mourn…but until now he hadn't been able to bring himself to take down the wall. The pain that lurked behind it was pain that Leo didn't think he could handle.

_But now I must. I can't…I can't hold this back anymore._

"But what do I do?" he asked the darkness quietly.

_Let her go,_ his heart told him softly. _You cannot heal until you let go._

_I don't want to forget her._

_You are not forgetting her. You are putting her to rest. You are forgiving yourself._

Leo gasped quietly at the realization. He'd sworn that he wouldn't punish himself for things he couldn't control, that he would never again let himself be swallowed by his anger at what he couldn't change, that he would stop looking for blame where there was none…but he was doing it again. _I am remembering Karai as another one of my failures…not as the woman I loved…_

_No. She doesn't deserve that…and neither do I. I—I did not fail. We just…weren't meant to be. But we tried, we both tried so hard…we did all that we could. **I** did all that I could._

_What's done is done. All I can do now is…_

"Move forward," Leo told himself softly. He closed his eyes and carefully approached the stone wall around his heart.

_It is over now._

_We both did all that we could. I did everything I could._

_We at least had one moment with each other._

_Karai was laid to rest as herself, not the Shredder…it's the best I could give her._

_She is free now…_

_I am free now…_

_**We** are free now, free just to love…_

Each admittance struck a hole in the dam surrounding his heart, and he took a deep breath before striking the final blow.

_Goodbye, Karai._

The wall shattered, then give way completely. He'd no sooner buried his face in his hands before the dam broke. Then at last he let the tears begin to fall, crying quietly as he said good bye to the woman he loved.

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Raph edged around the corner of the hallway, eyes searching the darkness carefully. He listened carefully for a moment, then sighed.

_Good, no one's up._

Certain that he was the only one awake, he swiftly made his way to the dojo. Moving as quietly as he could, he opened the weapons cabinet and began to stock up on supplies.

_Shuriken…kunai…smoke and poison bombs…_

A glitter of light on metal caught his eye, and he studied it carefully before grinning and attaching the weapons to his belt.

_An extra edge couldn't hurt, right?_

He ran over the events of the past few days in his mind. They'd all been extremely relieved when Leo had woken up for the first time, and things had fortunately continued to improve. And then two days ago, things had changed again. Leo had seemed…different, better…

Healed.

Raph smiled slightly to himself. _I guess Mikey's tape really did the trick_.

It had been hard to see Leo in so much pain, both physical and emotional. The physical had been ebbing slowly, but none of them knew how to touch the emotional pain Leo still suffered from.

Except Mikey.

After they discovered the tape in the VCR and Leo nowhere to be found, they'd all worried. It was Splinter who reported having seen Leo go to his room. Raph had wanted to go to him, but Don held him back.

"_Now more than ever, he needs to be alone, Raph. This isn't something you can help him with. He has to heal from this on his own, and now he's finally ready to do so."_

Leo didn't emerge until late the next day, but they could all feel the change; he felt like himself again, exuding the same calm they'd all grown so used to. As he continued to load himself with supplies, Raph sighed. _It took him long enough, but at least he finally let 'er go._

_And I say good riddance._

Raph couldn't understand how Leo could love someone like Karai. They were both very similar, true, but in Raph's mind, that was not enough to go on. He'd never been able to understand why Leo was willing to love someone he couldn't trust, and Karai could _not_ be trusted.

_Ya'd think that woulda been obvious after the first two times she betrayed him._

An angry hiss escaped the red-banded turtle. He didn't really care if Leo loved Karai, or even that she loved him; after everything she'd done to hurt his family, nothing was enough to redeem her. Raph grit his teeth. He knew it was best that things had unfolded as they had, that Leo had been the one to end it, to end _her_…but part of him still wished he could have been the one to avenge all the hurt done to his family.

And especially to Leo.

Raph's eyes narrowed. That was the crux of the matter. Despite every fight, every yelling match or dismissal of the other's feelings, despite everything…Raph cared about his brother. Of all of them, he felt closest to Leo. And Karai had wounded Leo deeply; not once, but many times, on so many levels.

_An' each time, I couldn't do a damn thing. All I could do was sit back while Leo gave that _ikeike (1)_ "one more chance" every single frickin' time. Even after what happened on Shred-head's spaceship, he still didn't kill her. And she just kept takin' advantage of him. Each time he'd trust her and give 'er another chance, she'd just use it to get close to him and stab him in the back again._ He snarled and closed the cabinet. _Well, that's over now. She's gone for good, and there aren't any Shredders left._

_But…_

_But the Foot is still here. An' that's gotta change._

_I couldn't kill Saki. I couldn't kill Karai. I couldn't save my family from all the shit we've gone through…_

_But I can, and **will**, now._

Rage, worry, and protectiveness had swirled together in Raph's heart and mind, blending into one crystal-clear, bloody truth:

The Foot had gone too far, and now they were going to pay for it.

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Don sighed and pushed back from his computer. He'd already caught himself making his third mistake on the program he was coding, a sure sign that his fatigue was catching up with him. He smirked ruefully as he glanced at the clock. _I guess two o'clock in the morning is as good a time as any to go to bed,_ he mused. Stretching widely, Don stood and walked out of the lab.

He quietly shut the door and padded across the Lair, moving as silently as he could. The family knew he kept late hours, and half of them were heavy sleepers, but he'd rather not get lectured for staying up _this_ late. Don had heard Raph get enough talks from Leo and Splinter to want to be on the receiving end of one.

A sudden creak from behind made Don cringe slightly, expecting a lecture. _Here we go…_He turned around, mentally preparing a defense for himself. However, the turtle behind him wasn't the one he'd been expecting.

"Raph?"

The red-banded turtle turned around as well, raising an eye ridge. "Don? What're you doin' up so late?"

"Situational simulation assemblage encoding," Don replied smoothly.

Raph's face went blank. "…Right."

Don hid a grin. None of his brothers ever really tried to understand the technological terms he used. Often times it was annoying, especially when he'd explain something clearly (perfectly clearly, in his mind), only to be asked to repeat what he'd said "in English." However, at times like these, it was extremely useful as a distraction. "So what about you?"

"Just goin' out for some air."

"Mm-hm," Don responded doubtfully. Raph shifted slightly and light glinted off of something hanging from his belt.

Don narrowed his eyes as the objects took the form of another set of weapons. _Those aren't Raph's sai._ He looked closer and recognized a pair of sun and moon daggers from the dojo. As his sight grew more accustomed to the shadows, he noticed the various other weapons Raph bore; an extra pouch of shuriken at his belt, shuko spikes hanging from one hand, and a small bag of explosives and smoke screens keeping the shuriken company. Don could feel his muscles tense rapidly.

"Raph, where are you going?"

Raph met his brother's eyes easily, though Don could sense the impatience in the red-banded turtle's stance. "I told ya, just out for a walk."

"You're going after the Foot," Don said flatly, disbelief and fear warring for control of his emotional state.

The red-banded turtle clicked his tongue and sighed in annoyance. "Don—"

"So what, you're just planning on annihilating the entire clan all by yourself?" Don cut in, interrupting his brother.

"Hell no." A shark's smile took over Raph's face. "Yer welcome ta join in on the fun anytime ya want."

"Raph—"

"They went too far. I know it was Karai that did this ta Leo, but that ain't the point. She's gone; they ain't got anyone left. No Shredder, no leader, nothin'. And there's a lotta blood to pay back. It's time for us to end this." He pulled out a sai, turning it back and forth, his eyes caressing the polished metal. "D'ya know that sayin', Don? About how for some things, ya do 'em, and there's hell to pay?" He raised his eyes to his brother.

Don swallowed hard. Only a few times had he seen that look in Raph's gaze, and it chilled him to the core. "Raph—" Another look stopped the words in his throat and he nodded instead. "Yeah, I know the saying."

Raph nodded, and his eyes returned to his weapon. A dark look crossed his face, soaking into his features and settling into the depths of his eyes. "Well, guess what?" he asked, his voice eerily mild. He carefully sheathed the sai, then looked up again. "Mess with my family, an' there _is_ hell ta pay. An' now…" He turned his back on his brother and headed for the door to the Lair.

"Now hell's comin' ta collect payment."

"Raph, no!" Don darted forward and grabbed his brother's arm, halting his progress. "You can't do this. It's not just stupid, it's suicide."

"No, it's homicide," Raph replied with disturbing calm.

"You can't really expect to do this and survive," Don tried again. "There are at least a hundred and fifty Foot ninja in this city, Raph, and they're all probably pissed as shell because they just lost _another_ clan leader. No matter how good you are, you _can't_ take on that many enemies at once. The odds would be bad even if it was all four of us going."

"What can I say? I like a challenge."

"Dammit, Raphael, this is not a joke!" Don hissed, his normally latent temper frayed by the realization that Raph was actually _serious_ about trying to take on the entire Foot army alone. "You can't do this. We almost lost Leo just a week ago, and now you want to go run off and get yourself killed. Do you really think we could handle that? It would kill us, Raph; you know that. You don't have to do this. The Foot are leaderless right now, and we know they're not the kind of warriors that can lead themselves. They're not a threat to us right now."

Raph sighed, meeting his brother's eyes with his own dark gaze. "Which means that now is the best time to attack. Yer the one who knows logistics an' strategies, Don; what better time ta go after 'em than when they're vulnerable? An' besides, it's not like I'm planning on storming their headquarters or somethin'. They want a fight as much as I do; if they see me, they'll come runnin'. I don't have ta go to them. I know these streets better'n anyone other than Leo; I've run 'em fer years, both with you guys an' with Casey. The fight'll be on _my_ turf."

Don couldn't help the angry words that flew from his mouth in a snarl. "Why are you always so damn set on looking a fight?! Why the hell can't you just be happy with the small amount of peace we're actually getting for a change?"

"'Cause it ain't gonna last, Don," Raph said, rubbing the back of his head in irritation. "Be realistic, bro. This ain't gonna end with Karai dyin'. You oughta know that. They're still a threat; that hasn't changed."

"And you know what else hasn't changed?" Don shot back. "The fact that _we fight as a team_. The only vigilante in this place is currently passed out in your room. Master Splinter raised and trained us to fight as a team and to only fight out of _necessity_. A team doesn't consist of just you alone. Necessity doesn't consist of you running out to pick a fight."

Raph sighed. "Look, bro, I ain't gonna fight ya about this. I'm goin' one way or another."

The purple-banded turtle moved to place himself in front of his brother. "No, you're not."

"Yeah I am, Don." He shrugged. "Maybe not tonight. Maybe you go an' wake up Master Splinter an' he orders me not ta go. So I wait. Ya can't watch me all the time, bro; I'm a slippery bastard." With those words, he ducked around his brother, avoiding Don's grab as he swiftly knocked the brainy turtle's feet out from under him. He then headed for the door. "It's just a casual walk, bro. Just goin' ta stretch my legs," With that, he tossed a salute back at Don and disappeared into the sewers.

Don stared after his brother in furious disbelief, then began swearing darkly as he racked his brain for a plan. _I swear, as soon as I catch him, I'm going to **kill** him_, he growled to himself. Given how the talk with Raph had gone, Don knew it'd be a waste of time to try and reason with his older brother anymore. And despite Raph's casual dismissal of Master Splinter, Don knew Raph would be moving fast enough to soon be out of reach. Don's only options now were to either go after Raph himself, knock him unconscious and drag him back to the Lair, or to grab Mikey and between the two of them, knock Raph unconscious and drag him back to the Lair. _And when he gets back, I can try his "tried and true" method of 'hit first, ask questions later' while he explains what the hell he's thinking._

The brainy turtle's temper was flaring for more reasons than just being ignored and dismissed by Raph. The memory of how Leo looked, lying in that alley covered in blood, still haunted most of Don's dreams, and the thought that Raph was most likely headed towards that same end terrified him. But even beyond that, deeper than that, lay the real reason for Don's anger: Raph's actions were threatening the first real chance at peace that they had ever had since getting involved with the Shredder and the Foot. Don knew he was a pacifist at heart; it was something he was well aware of and the biggest difference that had always stood between him and Raph. It was never that he was afraid or unable to fight, but Don tried to find a way around fighting. Unlike Raph, he didn't get any satisfaction out of living his life with bruises and bloody knuckles. He never ran from a fight, never hesitated to draw arms and go to battle alongside his brothers, but he knew that he fought for the long-term result: peace. Don knew that in their life, permanently defeating the enemies they faced was the only possible way to ensure peace and safety. In that aspect…Raph was right.

Which _also_ pissed him off. Reckless and impulsive as Raph's plan was, it was still realistic. Much as Don would like to believe that the Foot would just find a nice hole to hide in and leave them the shell alone, he knew that they _would_ be out looking for them, like Raph said, seeking to settle the debt.

_How can he actually think something through for once, honestly considering all the aspects, and then use that as a reason to go out and do something so stupid?! We're not meant to fight alone._

Don sighed, his own words convincing him. Raph was too serious about this to be deterred, so even with as pissed as Don was, he would probably need Mikey's help. As soon as the decision crystallized, the brainy turtle darted for the bedrooms to drag his younger brother out of bed.

In his haste to get to Mikey, Don didn't notice the shadow that slipped out of the Lair after Raph…

Nor the flash of blue that trailed in the shadow's wake.

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Leo panted slightly as he trailed Raph, cursing his brother and himself silently; Raph for being such a hothead and running off like this, and himself for overestimating his own level of health. Leo grimaced through another protesting twinge from his leg and kept walking.

He'd been improving, he knew he had. His leg was almost completely healed, the wound scabbed over and on its way to closing up, ready to become yet another scar. It no longer bothered him on his short jaunts around the Lair, and he'd assumed that that meant his leg would hold up under a longer walk as well.

And it probably would have, had that "longer walk" not consisted of a mile-long trot through the sewers.

Raph had been setting a steady pace, yet not one that was overly fast. Leo had expected his hotheaded brother to fly out of the Lair at a run in order to put distance between himself and the Lair, but he honestly wasn't moving that quickly. By Leo's guess, Raph was hoping to lose Don (or whoever else came after him) by taking his private route through the sewers; Leo knew it was unlikely that the hothead would be found, because he himself hadn't known about the back ways Raph took until he'd tailed him one evening. Raph was apparently thinking seriously about his fight with the Foot, because the rate he was going at wouldn't leave him winded at all once he made it topside.

Leo, however, was quickly becoming tired, much to his dismay. _Nearly two weeks in a bed will do that to you, I suppose._

His leg hadn't reopened, fortunately, but it still pulled unpleasantly at the constant motion, and the muscles around the wound ached. _Now_ Leo was willing to admit (though still reluctantly) that Don might have been correct in his diagnosis that Leo wasn't yet up to regular movement.

However, because of Raph, here he was, limping as quickly as he could through the sewers after his brother. Leo shook his head, trying to control his anger. _Raph, you've pulled some stupid stunts before, but this one takes the prize._

Leo had been taking a trip to the bathroom, both for a drink and an excuse to build up his strength un-chaperoned, when he'd heard his brothers arguing. In all honesty, it was a fairly quiet argument; after so many late-night arguments with Leo while trying to sneak out, Raph was skilled at being quiet enough not to wake anyone, and Don was never as loud as his brothers. However, the topic had easily caught Leo's attention, as did the fact that Raph was covered with weaponry. He'd remained hidden in the shadows for a while, hoping that Don would be able to talk Raph out of his little outing, though the hope was admittedly dim; stubborn didn't even come close to describing Raph. Leo had even stayed in place when Raph had knocked Don to the ground, half-expecting their quiet brother to jump right back up and knock some sense into Raph. Rare as the occurrence was, when he got angry, Don was not someone to push around. But Don had remained where he'd fallen, staring after his brother with an expression that looked both furious and shocked, and then bolted for Mikey's room. At that point Leo had slipped out the door after Raph, knowing that Don and Mikey wouldn't have a good chance of finding the hothead before he got topside.

Since he had left the Lair, Leo's anger had been growing steadily, despite his efforts to remain calm. He understood very well Raph's desire for a final, conclusive end; with the leadership responsibilities and the near-chronic tendency towards paranoid protection Leo bore, he was very familiar with the need to ensure that an enemy was completely neutralized. _But the way he's going about it…_Leo growled, looking forward to beating some sense into his younger brother. _You'd think he was a novice with no knowledge of logic or planning. Or his own mortality._

Part of Leo's anger was, like usual, directed at himself. He knew he should have expected something like this, should have known that Raph would be looking for revenge. Next to Leo, anything dealing with the Foot upset Raph the most. Leo chastised himself silently, feeling that he should have expected that Raph would have dozens of pent-up emotions to deal with. But he had been trying so hard to lay his own ghosts to rest…and one ghost in particular had needed a lot of time. The only positive points he could find in this whole situation were the facts that Don had delayed Raph as long as he had, and that Raph didn't seem overly concerned with making good time; both of those "perks" were why Leo could now hear Raph's steady footsteps falling softly ahead of him.

_I'm not going to scold him_, Leo told himself firmly, trying to tamp down his anger. _That'd just make him angry, and shell knows he'd just leave. He's got to know this is stupid. I'm just going to help him to see that, in a calm, collected manner._

Leo snorted quietly.

_Yeah, right._

Pushing himself a little harder, Leo closed the gap between himself and his brother until he could see Raph's shadow on the bend of the opposite tunnel wall ahead of him. Limping to a stop, he caught his breath and projected his voice farther into the tunnel.

"Out for a walk, Raphael?"

The shadow on the wall halted, then quickly turned and retraced its steps, growing larger as it approached. Seconds later, Raph emerged from around the bend, bristling with weapons and anger.

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"What the HELL are _you_ doin' out here?!" Raph roared as soon as he saw Leo.

Leo regarded his brother calmly, leaning against the wall in order to relieve the pressure on his injured leg. "Coming after you. I think you'd recognize what that looks like by now."

"Dammit, Leo, you shouldn't be out here!" Raph snarled, guilt beginning to grow unpleasantly in his gut at the fact that his injured brother had felt pressured to come after him. "Ya only just started walkin' around the frickin' _Lair_; ain't no _way_ yer ready ta be out _here_!"

"Believe me, I'd much rather be back home, but then you apparently decided that you hadn't done enough stupid things lately and ran off to go pick an unnecessary fight that you can't win."

Raph growled. "You know as well as I do that we gotta do somethin', Leo. There's still an army out there that's gonna be lookin' for us."

"And the keyword there, genius, is _us_. Meaning all four of us, not just you. It's exactly like Don said, Raph; this plan of yours is just suicide."

"Well what the hell else am I s'posed to do?" Raph exploded, his anger returning and breaking the odd calm he'd found himself in earlier. "This ain't somethin' I can let go. You almost died, bro; again. I almost _lost_ you…_again_." Raph shook his head. "I'm sick of that happenin', so I'm gonna stop it." His voice took on a pleading tone. "You know what I mean, Leo; protectin' this family is as important ta you as it is ta me. You know I gotta do _somethin'_."

"You have to do something? Then how about protecting your family?" Leo snapped, startling Raph with both his words and his anger.

"That's what I'm—"

Leo cut him off with a furious gesture. "No, Raphael, that is _not_ what you're going off to do now. What you're going to do is start a battle that we aren't ready for yet, and get yourself killed."

Raph snorted. "_Start_ a battle? Damn, Leo, of anyone, I'd expect _you_ ta understand that I ain't startin' anythin'. This has been goin' longer than we've been alive. I'm just tryin' ta end it."

"In what is quite possibly the stupidest way possible," Leo retorted. "Shell, Raph, you can't take on a hundred Foot ninja. Even if you could hold them off until you killed them one by one, they'd just pump you full of shuriken or sedatives or poison and then kill you. Or use you to draw the rest of us out. Did you ever stop to think about that, Raphael? You _know_ we'd come after you; we never let each other fight any battle alone. And then we'd all be dead."

"Why the hell d'ya think I came out here _alone_ at _night_? So that ya wouldn't follow me. Damn, Leo, I ain't stupid. I've been tailed by you enough times ta know you'll come after me. That's why I snuck out. It's not like I'm plannin' on stormin' the tower; I'm just goin' out there an' lettin' 'em come to me."

Leo grit his teeth, trying to hold back his anger. "I need you around, Raph. Especially now. What do you think would happen if you left for your fight and got killed? What do you think would happen to us? I can't protect _myself_ right now, Raph, much less Don, Mikey and Splinter. I am just injured baggage right now; that means that one-fifth of our fighting force is down. If you leave and get yourself killed, which you _will_ if you go off like this, we're down by two-fifths. And then what do you think will happen? You're right, Raph; we are going to have to face the Foot eventually. I'm not contesting that. But we have to do it as a _team_. You think I don't understand the helplessness and frustration that you're feeling? I understand it perfectly."

"Ya think so?" Raph asked darkly. "Did _you_ have ta search for ages ta find the half-dead, bloody body of yer brother in some back alley? Did _you_ have ta sit around for a week wonderin' if yer bro was gonna die, burnt up from the inside out from a fever?"

"No, _I_ had to spend an entire night thinking that all of you were _dead_," Leo spat. "I had to stand there and watch you three fall and then wake up _alone_. I had to keep myself from going insane with worry and despair when Karai told me that she was using you three to find the Lair. I had to fight my way to the end of a blood feud while trying not to imagine coming back to find _another_ one of our homes destroyed and my entire family slaughtered," he hissed, pain and anger darkening his eyes. "Don't you dare try to pretend that this hurt you the most."

Raph could feel his heart cringe a bit at the amount of hurt he could hear in Leo's voice. _Leo does have more of himself in this than I do…but I **need** ta do somethin'. I ain't like him, I can't just wait._

Leo sighed, dropping his head. "If you leave, Raph, there's nothing I can do. But please _think_ about what would happen if you left and we were attacked. My duty is to protect this family, and I can't do that. I would last maybe five minutes like this in battle, regardless of how skilled the ninja I faced were. And I want an end to this as badly as you do, Raphael…probably even more than you do. Even if it's just because I have more reasons, regardless of how selfish they are."

"Selfish? How the hell is wantin' the Foot gone _selfish_?"

"Because it will make things easier for me. Right now, I'm not thinking about the lives it will save, about the attacks the destruction of the Foot will prevent. I'm thinking about my family being safe. I'm thinking about fewer nights spent awake, wondering if you'll come home alive. I'm thinking about more peace of mind for myself. And I'm thinking about cutting the last tie that connects the woman I loved with one of my greatest enemies."

Raph paused, surprised by Leo's candid words, and sighed internally. _I ain't stoppin', I'm just gonna listen to him._

"What the hell d'you want from me, Leo?"

"I want you to think about your family, Raph," Leo sighed, stretching his leg slightly and wincing. "All I want is for you to come home. That's all I'm here for. I'm not going to stand here and yell at you for something that I might have done a few months ago myself."

Raph stilled at that, caught off-guard by Leo's admission. They knew Leo had been on a short fuse after their final confrontation with the Shredder, ready and willing to attack _any_ kind of threat as he tried to make up for a failure no one pinned on him. _But I didn't know he was willin' ta go that far,_ Raph thought with some surprise. _I never thought he'd be up fer somethin' so big, so—_

_So dangerous_.

The thought echoed in Raph's mind before he could stop it, and the realization made him hiss in annoyance. It _was_ a dangerous thing to try, and yet…and yet he still felt like it needed to be done. The Foot would be in turmoil over the loss of their last and latest leader, and the idea of revenge would quickly overwhelm their common sense. All _he_ had to do was stay one step ahead of them, tire them out as they trailed him, and then it would be easy to pick them off, one by one. _But dammit…Leo's right. I'm needed more at home._

Raph sighed, still unwilling to fully let go of this chance. "I didn't just come out here flyin' off the handle, y'know," he said seriously. "I had my reasons."

"What were they?" Leo asked, his tone carefully neutral.

"You guys," Raph said, holding his brother's eyes forcefully. "When you left ta go see the Ancient One an' get yer head straight, I was left in charge. I had ta take over. Mikey, Don an' Splinter all became _my_ responsibility. An' while I was tryin' ta protect our family, what happened? Our home was trashed, we got thrown around the whole damn city, an' we almost didn't make it. An' now this happens, yer outta commission again, an' I ain't waitin' around fer a repeat."

Leo shook his head. "Raph, that's not going to happen again. None of our enemies know where the new Lair is; I think that's obvious, given the lengths Karai went to in order to try and find it. And like Don said, the Foot are leaderless now. They have always been molded solely for blind obedience, nothing more. They will not act until they have a new leader, and it will be a while before they choose a successor. They might even end up eliminating many of their peers in a battle for sovereignty, who knows. We have time, Raph."

"It ain't gonna help us to wait, Leo," Raph insisted. "The longer we wait, the more time we're givin' 'em to regroup."

"I know, Raph. But any advantage that might be gained by attacking now would be lost by you going out there by yourself."

Raph growled and paced away from his brother. He knew that if he made a break for it, Leo wouldn't be able to keep up. _An' even if he's followed me around here before, I still know this route better'n he does. But…_Raph snorted and turned around, eyeing his brother. _But it's Leo. He's serious 'bout followin' me, bum leg an' fresh outta the infirmary an' everythin'._ He tried one more time.

"I don't like waitin', bro, especially not now. Waitin' now means we're gonna have ta keep waitin'; I'm serious, Leo, we'll do better by strikin' first. I gotta do _somethin'_."

"Then do something productive," Leo said firmly. "Spar with Don and Mikey. Improve your skills against long range weapons. Work on your speed and precision. Aim for increasing your endurance; if we did something like this, we'd be facing more enemies than can be taken care of quickly, and that means hours of fighting, like what we faced when…"

"When you got ambushed," Raph finished for him. He studied his brother carefully. "You were tellin' the truth when ya said you were considerin' this. Yer actually serious about this, ain't'cha? Yer not just screwin' with me."

"No, Raph, I'm not. Like I said, I understand where you're coming from. I know something has to be done. If we honestly expect to ever have peace…well, it's not going to happen if the Foot are still around." Leo sighed, exhaustion covering his face. "Why does everything always have to be this hard?"

"Whaddaya mean?" Raph asked, concerned by Leo's actions.

Leo gestured around them to indicate their situation. "We're back between the proverbial rock and a hard place, Raph. If we plan to get rid of the Foot…it's going to have to be all of them. Otherwise, they'll recover; they'll be back. It might be a matter of years, but they'd never let us go. To do that, we'd be talking something other than regular combat, because we just can't win against such numbers in a straight fight. We'd be talking bombs, or poison, but not honorable combat, which means taking responsibility for the deaths of over a hundred men. Raphael, we're talking about wiping out an entire clan." He looked down. "That's a lot of blood to have on your hands…and your conscience."

"But Leo, if we don't…"

"Yeah," Leo murmured in agreement. "If we don't. If we _don't_, we're looking at countless more years of this war. They'll get another leader eventually, and then we're back where we started, back to whittling them down one or two at a time" He stared at his brother tiredly. "What kind of choice is this? Either I order that we set out to hunt down these men, which means that I spend the next years of my life hoping I haven't completely destroyed all of my honor…or I order that we don't, which means I spend another eighteen years with my heart in my throat, hoping we all make it through another attack, until it's time for me to kill another Shredder. I'll tell you the truth, Raph; were it all of us together, taking them by surprise…I believe we could take out the Foot clan. Perhaps not all at once, but enough that the number of survivors would be easily dealt with later. But attacking like that…I don't know if it feels right. So now it's come down to a bloodbath or spending the rest of our lives fighting. And unfortunately, the choice _does_ have to be made now, because this is the only opening we might ever get." He shook his head. "When did our life end up like this, Raph? When did my choices become nothing more than picking one death scenario over another?"

Raph said nothing for several long moments. "This is what it's like for you, ain't it? " he asked softly, reading the pain and turmoil in his brother's eyes. "All this—all this shit, all the time…this is what you do?"

"Yes. It's not always this—pivotal of a decision, or on such a scale, but yeah. This is it."

_Damn…_Raph thought. Survival was always something that they _all_ considered, both personal survival and the survival of the clan. But the depth of what their survival meant, the means that had to be taken…that was something Leo had to consider on a whole different level. "How d'ya keep from losin' it, dealin' with all this shit?"

Leo smiled at his brother. "I remember who I do it for."

Raph held his brother's gaze for several long moments, acknowledging the moment of closeness as it stretched between them. Don's words from earlier drifted back to him. _"This, all of this, is and has been bothering him a lot more than we thought…"_

_Damn straight._

"Alright, fine," Raph said finally. "I ain't goin' anywhere."

"Promise?"

"Yeah. C'mon, bro," Raph cajoled, his voice softer than usual. He carefully looped Leo's arm around his own shoulders. "Let's getcha home."

Leo smiled gratefully. "Sounds good. How about carrying me?"

Raph snorted. "Not a chance, tank ass. You walked out here, so you can walk back."

"Tank ass?" Leo repeated, struggling to look offended rather than amused. "Last time I checked, _you_ outweighed _me_ by at least a few pounds."

"Yeah, but it ain't fat," Raph replied, grinning. He held up an arm and flexed his bicep. "It's solid muscle, bro. Lean an' green, just like the ladies like it."

Leo laughed out loud. "Oh right, I'm sure that's exactly—"

A sudden hissing displacement of air cut off whatever he was about to say.

Leo could feel the familiar, tight shiver of warning that he'd spent years honing travel quickly down his spine. He'd learned to trust and enhance this ghost-thin sense of danger over the years, and it had never led him astray. In a heartbeat, he stepped to the side, dragging Raph along as he stumbled away from the sudden, inexplicable billowing of smoke.

An instant later, the smoke cleared, revealing four familiar, red-and-black clad figures.

"Aw, shit," Raph swore darkly.

Leo swallowed. He'd faced his fear of these ninja long ago, back when they'd returned to New York to take down the Shredder. And yet, some of that fear was trying to resurface. This was too much like being back on those rooftops, fatigue and pain pulling at him as he faced enemies he didn't know if he could defeat. His fear had different roots now, though. That first time, his fear had been born of uncertainty, that almost automatic reaction to the unknown; they were a new threat, and therefore meant to be feared since he didn't know the breadth and depth of their skills. Now his fear came from a different source; not so much the fact that he was nearly helpless, but that if they attacked, Raph would probably get himself killed as he tried to tear them all apart.

"What the hell do you jackasses want?" Raph snarled, drawing his sai.

The Elite ninja bowed respectfully to the blue-clad turtle.

"What…the shell?" Raph narrowed his eyes. "What's goin' on, Leo?"

"Got me…"

The four Foot warriors then moved apart, making way for a fifth figure, which moved forward into the poor lighting to reveal a tall, darkly-clad man of Japanese descent. He looked over Raph and Leo slowly, then inclined his head in a mock bow.

"Greetings."

"Who the hell are you?" Raph demanded.

The man glanced at him, then smiled politely. "Nakamura Tetsuo." He then turned from Raph to face Leo. "And you are Hamato Leonardo, I presume."

Leo stared back coolly. "How do you know my name?"

"Easily. You are something of a…celebrity of sorts among our clan."

"A celebrity," Leo repeated wryly. He gave a short laugh and shook his head. "Meaning everyone in your clan wants my head."

Tetsuo chuckled. "You are as sharp as they say."

"I'm honored that my enemies hold me in such high regard," Leo said tightly. "What do you want?"

The man smirked. "I thought that you were sharp, Hamato-san. Put that mind of yours to work. I am a human that knows of you and your family, walking through these ungodly sewers with four Foot ninja. What else would I be here for?" His smile turned sharp and dark, and he slowly rested a hand on the sword at his hip.

"I am here for _you_."

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**A/N: OMG, it's done! . (dies) This was a long chapter, and I've been working on it for ages, so I was getting tired of reading the same parts over and over…but I wanted to make sure it was good, since I made you guys wait so long for it. (I do hope it doesn't seem too rushed…) And it's 29 pages, so hopefully the length will appease things a little. ;; I am so sorry again about the wait, and please enjoy. A translation can be found below this for the Japanese I used in this chapter, and…I think that's it. Please R&R, and thanks again. Take care!**

**Translations!**

**_(1) ikeike_: bch**


	10. The Cost of Living

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own the TMNT show, any of the characters, any of the settings, or anything turtle-related whatsoever.  And it makes me sad. I do, however, own the plot of this story, the story itself, and my OC. Not that I expect anyone would **want** to take my OC…I mean, he's kind of a jerk. :D (Speaking of which, there's been a name change; Tetsuo's name is now Nakamura Tetsuo. Just a small change, and just 'cause I like this name better. Lol.)_

_Sigh. So once again I'm here with apologies for another overdue update. It seems like nothing is going to let me finish this story; if it wasn't one thing, it's been another. Exams, midterms, quizzes, projects, no Internet connection, and power outages (we actually lost a transformer here on campus, resulting in absolutely no power whatsoever. And considering it was still freezing outside, it made for a couple chilly nights. . ) But the last chapter of "What We Could Have Been" is finally here. After this, it's just the epilogue, and then my second story will be done:D The epilogue will be kind of short, since it's just wrapping things up; "short" in my terms, which means "not thirty pages long". Probably only 15 pages or so. XD_

_Now then, on to the thanking!_

_Thanks very much to **Aurora Musis Amica, BubblyShell22, Tristripe, Ranitagoyle, greshunkai, Tailfeather, Tewi, **and** Eridani23** for reviewing Chapter 9, and thanks to everyone who read it. I really appreciate the fact that none of you are sending me hate mail for the sheer number of cliffhangers and the excessive waiting between chapters, even though I'd deserve it. ;;_

_I think that's pretty much everything, so on to Chapter 10!_

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"_Greetings."_

"_Who the hell are you?" Raph demanded._

_The man glanced at him, then smiled politely. "Nakamura Tetsuo." He then turned from Raph to face Leo. "And you are Hamato Leonardo, I presume."_

_Leo stared back coolly. "How do you know my name?"_

"_Easily. You are something of a…celebrity of sorts among our clan."_

"_A celebrity," Leo repeated wryly. He gave a short laugh and shook his head. "Meaning everyone in your clan wants my head."_

_Tetsuo chuckled. "You are as sharp as they say."_

"_I'm honored that my enemies hold me in such high regard," Leo said tightly. "What do you want?"_

_The man smirked. "I thought that you were sharp, Hamato-san. Put that mind of yours to work. I am a human that knows of you and your family, walking through these ungodly sewers with four Foot ninja. What else would I be here for?" His smile turned sharp and dark, and he slowly rested a hand on the sword at his hip._

"_I am here for **you**."_

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"Me?" Leo's eyes narrowed. "Because of the fight with Karai, right?"

"Correct. As distasteful as I find it…you are the current ruler of the Foot."

"What?!" Raph exploded as he turned back to look at Leo.

Leo swallowed, feeling as though someone had just struck him in the gut. "There's no way—"

"You defeated Karai in battle and killed her. Leadership passes to you by rule." He snorted as he drew his katana. "But that will change. It is wrong and repulsive that an enemy should be holding the throne, let alone such a…_being_…as you. But I shall change that now." With that, he leapt forward at Leo.

Leo's hands immediately went to the handles of his weapons, instinct guiding his muscles. A sharp pull on his left side, however, sent his left arm straight back down. He winced in pain as he drew his right katana only. _I guess we're doing this with only one sword._

The two warriors came together violently. Leo winced and hissed as the impact shot through his arms and into his aching side. Pushing the pain aside, he focused all of his attention on the fight.

_This guy is no amateur_, he noted, his mind snapping into the calculating mode he fell into whenever he fought a new enemy. _Whoever he is, he's good. He's most likely been training with swords from a young age. He relies a bit too much on strength, though. His stance is rather unstable, too._ Leo grit his teeth as he parried a particularly forceful blow and felt something tear in his side.

_Dammit,_ he thought, wincing. _My wound's opened up again._ He could feel the familiar burning in his side, and a thick ache was beginning in his thigh as he braced himself once again. Glancing to the side, he risked a glance for Raph.

The hothead was being held back by the Elite, blocked from going to Leo's aid. He was swearing darkly and dealing out furious blows, and despite being outnumbered, he was managing to hold his own. A second, sharper tear drew Leo's attention back to his side, wetness spreading along the bandages on his side. The pain drew a ragged hiss from the injured turtle.

"Ah."

Leo jerked slightly in surprise as Tetsuo spoke and stepped away.

"You are injured," the dark man said as he sheathed his blade, indicating Leo's side with a nod of his head. "We shall cease. This is no honor in defeating an injured warrior." He snapped his fingers and the Elite broke off as well.

One of Leo's eye ridges rose, and he restrained himself from snorting in disdain. "How kind of you," he said tightly.

"Leo!" Raph was at Leo's side in an instant. "Leo, you okay?"

"I'm fine, Raph," Leo said quietly.

"Ah, yes, Raphael. The Foot ninja here have much to say about you as well. And where are the rest of your charming brothers?" Tetsuo asked with a dark smile.

"That is none of your concern," Leo bit out. "What is it that you want?"

"Control," the man responded smoothly.

"What?"

"As I may have guessed, I am not from this country. Japan is my homeland, and I am the jounin of the Japanese division of the Foot clan."

Leo narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Wasn't that Karai's post?"

Tetsuo's lip curled up slightly before his features smoothed over again. "At one time, yes, it was. However, that changed when she came to your city. I was named to command in her absence, which greatly benefited the Foot; the loss of her leadership was no real loss at all. As seen by what has happened here, she was not meant for leadership of the clan. And now that has changed as well. You defeated Saki, and the clan's rule fell to Karai. You defeated her, and now it falls to _you_."

"I don't want the rule of your clan," Leo spat in disgust.

"Good, then on _that_ issue we agree," Tetsuo retorted. "That is the control I have come for. Karai named no heir to this branch of the Foot clan, and I am not well-known to the clan members in this city, so I lack the influence needed to merely take control. They are fools, to remain loyal to leaders that don't deserve it. And despite my rule of the Japanese branch, they refuse to acknowledge me until I _take_ control of this branch from the current ruler. Disgusting as it is, _you_ are the leader of the Foot now. You could see that by the actions of the Elite; they can find their master anywhere, and their master is the only one they bow to. These ninja still cling to the idea of leadership ascension by battle, even in such a situation as this. I have come with the intention of assuming control." He paused slightly, and the smooth tone came back into his voice. "But you are injured, and it would not be an honorable or perfectly decisive fight."

"Mmm," Leo said noncommittally. He remained silent for several moments before speaking again. "So do you intend to just come back later and battle me when I'm well?"

Tetsuo smiled pleasantly, though the expression was sharp. "Yes."

"I see. Wouldn't you rather just take the forces now and leave?"

The man stiffened slightly. "What are you implying?"

"A deal."

"Leo!" Raph snapped. "Don't you—"

"Be quiet, Raph." Leo stared calmly at Tetsuo. "Well?"

"A deal, hm?" Tetsuo's eyes narrowed. "What is your suggestion?"

"I will forswear leadership of the Foot, and name you as the new jounin. You will get the rule, control and followers that you want without a fight."

"That is quite generous of you," Tetsuo said after a moment. His face remained impassive, though a strange light came into his eyes. "And what benefits do _you_ receive?"

"You will take all the Foot ninja in this city and leave New York. Every last one of you will go to Japan, and you will not return. That is the deal."

Tetsuo's eyes widened. "You think to banish _me_?" he managed, his voice harsh with disbelief. "You cannot be serious."

"I can and I am," Leo said coldly. "You have two choices; either you take my offer and go, or, as the admitted leader of the Foot, I will order the Elite to destroy you now."

"What?" Tetsuo stiffened in anger and shock, and his hand gripped the hilt of his katana. His eyes shot from the Elite, to Raph, and then finally back to Leo. He spent several minutes staring at Leo, then pulled his hand off of his sword with a grimace that was more reminiscent of a snarl. "I…accept. Let us get this over with."

"Very well." Leo drew both of his katana, then cut a small slice in one hand. Holding both blades in front of him, he spread blood on each of the swords, and then met Tetsuo's eyes. "On my blood, swords and honor, I swear that I abdicate rule of the Foot, and name Nakamura Tetsuo as the new jounin. I am satisfied."

Tetsuo smirked, but repeated Leo's actions. "On my blood, sword and honor, I swear that I accept rule of the Foot, and that _my_ forces and I shall depart this city and not return. I am satisfied." Drawing out a handkerchief, he wiped the blood off his blade and bound the cut on his hand. "It was a pleasure doing business with you," he drawled with a slight bow. He snapped his fingers, he and the Elite disappeared in a flash of smoke.

Raph blinked in surprise and turned to look at Leo. "Wait, that's it?"

"I guess so." Leo sighed and cleaned his swords, then sheathed them. He then sagged against the tunnel wall and slid to the ground.

"Leo, you okay?" Raph quickly knelt down by Leo and swore when he saw the redness on his brother's bandages. "Dammit, yer bleedin'. We gotta get you home, bro."

"Yeah, just…wait. Just let me rest for a minute."

Raph tried again. "Look, I could carry ya…"

Leo laughed slightly. "Raph, it's alright. I'm not going to bleed out, and I can walk on my own. I just need to get my breath back; this is more movement than I've done in a while," he said, wincing.

"Yer an ass, ya know that?" Raph grumbled, shifting into a more comfortable position and pressing his hands carefully against Leo's side.

A sharp hiss whistled through Leo's teeth at the pressure. "Dammit, Raphael! Try _warning_ me before you do that!!"

"Shove it, Leo. Yer kinda bleedin', if ya hadn't noticed, and we are _not_ goin' through the same thing twice."

Leo breathed heavily as he tried to get the pain in his side under control. "Dammit, Raph…"

Raph glanced at his brother in concern. "Look, we'll just get the bleedin' stopped an' then we'll getcha home, alright?"

"Hn," Leo grunted noncommittally, the muscles in his jaw working tensely. "It didn't even reopen that much, you know."

"No, 'course not," Raph drawled sarcastically. "The bandages were just red ta begin with."

"Mmhm," Leo murmured, his eyes closed.

Raph frowned. "None'a that, bro; you gotta stay with me."

Leo sighed and opened his eyes. "I'm not falling asleep or passing out, Raph; I'm just resting."

"If you say so." Raph sighed and allowed the silence to stretch out as they waited. After a few minutes his attention wandered, and he glanced down at Leo's side, shaking his head. "This has been one helluva crazy-ass night, huh?"

"Yeah, it has," Leo said softly, his expression turning serious. Grimacing again, he looked at Raph. "We need to get back, Raph, just in case Tetsuo decides he doesn't need to keep up his end of the bargain. Has the bleeding stopped?"

Raph peered under his hands. "It's slowed down, but it hasn't stopped yet. Give it a couple more minutes."

"No, we need to get home." Leo gently pushed Raph's hands away and slowly began pushing himself to his feet.

"Dammit, Leo—"

Leo looked at his brother impatiently. "I'm not going to bleed out between here and the Lair, Raph. We need to head back. And besides, Don and Mikey are probably already out looking for us, and I don't want them wandering around out here right now either."

Raph growled but acquiesced, throwing Leo's right arm around his own shoulder in order to provide some support. "Yer a thick-headed asshole, ya know that?"

"It takes one to know one, Raph, but I appreciate your concern."

That drew a grudging laugh from the red-banded turtle as they started their trek home. However, he sobered as he caught sight of the cut on Leo's palm, which was hanging over his shoulder. Adjusting his hand momentarily, he tugged on Leo's lightly. "Hey, Leo, what are we gonna do about this?"

Leo sighed. "We're going to go home, Don's going to yell at us both, I'm probably going to be drugged out of my mind, and then I'm not going to move for an entire week."

"I meant about that Tetsuo guy," Raph said impatiently. "A guy like that…there's no way he'll keep up his end. It'd be _way_ too frickin' simple fer one thing, an' fer another, we don't have that kinda luck."

"I know. And you're right." Leo sighed tiredly. "Later, Raph. We'll talk about this later. We'll discuss all of this tomorrow, but I'm just too tired to get into it tonight."

"So what're we s'posed to tell everybody?" Raph asked doubtfully.

Leo was silent for a moment. "The truth," he said finally. "You ran out, I went after you, I overworked myself, you felt bad about it, and we came back."

Raph chuckled. "Selective omission doesn't exactly count as the truth, bro."

"Well, what do you suggest, Raph? If we tell them tonight, they're all going to worry about it, and I really don't have the energy to go through all of it. We can tell them tomorrow."

"You sure yer okay?" Raph asked concernedly, tightening his grip on his brother as Leo stumbled.

"Mmhmm. I'm just…tired. I haven't really moved this much…in a while."

Raph glanced down at Leo's side but couldn't tell if the stains on the bandages had grown. "Don't worry, bro, we're only a couple minutes from the Lair."

As they approached the tunnel leading to the foundry, Raph sighed.

Leo glanced over at his brother. "What's the matter?"

Raph smirked. "Look at me," he said, indicating his additional weaponry. "You went an' ruined a great night out. I didn't even get ta kick anyone's ass."

"C'mon, Raph, you got to fight the Elite," Leo offered, trying to hide his smile. "All four of them, and at the same time, even. That's got to make up for missing out on some low-level Foot ninja, right?"

"Like hell," Raph laughed. "It wasn't even long enough to be a good fight. An' besides, even if they suck, the lowlifes have better sound effects."

Leo laughed as well, shaking his head in dismay. "There's just no pleasing you, is there?"

"'Course there is. _You_ just went an' ruined my fun." Raph sighed. "It's the story of my life, bro."

A muffled snort came from the blue-banded turtle before he pasted a look of mock seriousness on his face. "What's that, Raph?"

Raph grinned widely at his brother. "All dressed up an' no place ta go."

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Mikey narrowed his eyes in concern and silently backed down the tunnel. He'd set out to look for Raph, and, when they discovered his empty bed, Leo as well. Don had remained in the Lair in case the two of them returned before Mikey. For his part, Mikey had gone down a side way, since he remembered that Raph had a personal route that branched off of the main junction pipe. After about five minutes, he'd heard voices from down the tunnel and sighed in relief. He'd been about to call out and greet his brothers when Raph's voice had caught his attention.

"—s'posed to tell everybody?"

_Hello, hello, what was that?_ Mikey grinned slightly as he processed his brother's words. _I do believe that it sounds like I missed something._

"The truth," Leo's voice responded, echoing slightly. "You ran out, I went after you, I overworked myself, you felt bad about it, and we came back."

An eerily resounding chuckle followed. "Selective omission doesn't exactly count as the truth, bro."

_Selective omission?_ Mikey grinned and edged a little farther down the tunnel. _Oh yeah, if **Leo** is tryin' to hide some, it has **got** to be something good. Or worth knowing, at least. My secret-radar is picking up some strong waves._ He heard Leo talking again. _Here it comes—_

"Well, what do you suggest, Raph? If we tell them tonight, they're all going to worry about it, and I really don't have the energy to go through all of it. We can tell them tomorrow."

—_And there it goes._ The orange-banded turtle sighed in disgust. _'It'. The foe of eavesdroppers everywhere. 'Worry about it', 'go through all of it'. What's **it**? In the movies, the people always carefully detail whatever they're talking about so that the eavesdropper knows exactly what happened; why can't my bros be that helpful? I don't care if they're gonna tell us later, that takes all the fun out of it. Oh well. Better to find out than not, I guess._ He cocked his head as the rest of the conversation floated towards his ears.

"—okay?"

"Mmhmm. I'm just…tired. I haven't really moved this much…in a while."

"Don't worry, bro, we're only a couple minutes from the Lair."

_And that's as good of an entrance cue as I'm gonna get,_ Mikey thought. His smile slowly returned. _Goodbye, juicy secret; hello, going home to watch Don blow up at Raph and Leo! _He moved back several feet, then began running noisily in his brothers' direction. "Raph! Leo! Hey, are you guys down here? Guys!"

A muffled curse ricocheted off the walls before Raph answered. "Yo, shell-fer-brains, why don't'cha be a little louder? I don't think they heard ya the next state over!"

Mikey grinned as he rounded the corner, finally catching sight of his brothers. "Guys! Where the shell have you _been_? And what the shell were ya thinking? Geez, Raph, nice job. And Leo—" Mikey felt his heart stop suddenly as he skidded to a halt in front of Leo and Raph. "You're bleeding! Again! Shell, Raph, what didja _do_ to him?!"

Raph growled and smacked Mikey on the back of the head. "Shut yer mouth, Mikey, I didn't to anythin' to 'im."

Leo smiled slightly at his youngest brother. "It's fine, Mikey. I just pushed myself a little too far coming out here. I guess I overestimated how well I was doing."

Mikey frowned. "You're really okay?"

"I'm really okay. Just really tired."

The orange-banded turtle took one last look at his oldest brother before relaxing. A grin then crept onto his face. "You know what else you are?"

Leo raised an eye ridge. "What?"

"_Really_ dead. Don's seriously pissed," Mikey laughed. "He's totally gonna kill you both."

"Yeah," Leo said, wincing. "Probably."

Mikey tried for a sympathetic look. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better, he's prob'ly gonna kill Raph first, since he pissed him off so much. That way you'll have time to make a run for it."

Raph snorted. "Gimpy here ain't in any shape ta run anywhere, in case ya hadn't noticed. Besides, if Don can just drug 'im silly an' put 'im in traction, he oughta be happy."

"No more drugs," Leo grumbled. "I don't need them."

"Shoulda thought of that before you made a run for it," Mikey sang cheerfully.

"I wasn't 'making a run for it', Mikey," Leo protested. "I was coming after Mr. Forethought here."

Mikey nodded. "Yeah." Turning to his other brother, he glanced over Raph's added weapons. "And from the looks of things, Mr. Forethought thought he was going to a party without inviting us."

Raph averted his gaze, uncomfortable with the lack of laughter in his youngest brother's voice. "You know how I am, Mikey; I had ta do somethin'."

"Yeah, you always do," Mikey said softly, turning suddenly serious. "But how come it's never something with us?" He kept his eyes on the ground. "It's always you, by yourself. You never stop to think how we feel always being left behind."

"I wasn't leavin' you behind!" Raph protested, finally looking at his brother.

"Yeah, you were. Every time you leave, you leave us behind. And each time…each time I always gotta wonder if this is the time you'll leave us behind for good. You're not invincible, bro."

Raph fell silent. His eyes caught on the bloody bandages on Leo's side, and he tightened his grip on his brother's arm.

"…Yeah, I know," he replied softly. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at his brothers. "I—I'm gonna try an' do better 'bout that, guys. I will."

Mikey looked surprised, then grinned hopefully. "Promise?"

Raph nodded. "Yeah. Just as long as you guys keep comin' after me ta bring me back."

Leo coughed slightly. "Um, guys? I really hate to interrupt, but I'm kind of…dripping. Could we maybe head home?"

Mikey and Raph both whipped around to look at Leo, eyes widening at the drops of blood falling from the bandages on his side.

"Dammit, Leo!" Raph exploded. "I thought you said it wasn't that bad!"

"No, I said it only tore open a little bit," Leo replied defensively.

"It doesn't matter if it was only 'a little bit'!" Mikey said frantically. "_Torn open_ is not a good thing for a side to be!! Man, Donnie's gonna kill you if you bleed out!"

"How can he kill me if I bleed out?" Leo demanded.

"He's a smart guy; I'm sure he'll figure out a way!"

"Screw this!" Raph grumbled. Shifting his grip, he slung Leo over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and headed down the sewers in the direction of the Lair.

"Ow! Dammit, Raph!" Leo yelped. "What the shell do you think you're doing?!"

"Carryin' ya, stupid. Sittin' around waitin' for you ta wake up for a week was bad enough the first time around. Besides, I don't wanna see how many kinds of dead Don would make me if I brought ya back in any worse shape than ya already are." He sighed, shifting his burden slightly. "At least ya aren't as fat as Mikey."

"Hey!"

"Truth hurts, lard butt."

Mikey glared at his brother as he walked beside him, then grinned. Cupping a hand to his ear, he pretended to be listening as someone spoke. "What was that, Donnie? Where'd I find them? Oh, just about a mile away from the Lair. What? Oh yeah, Leo too. What were they doing? I think they were fighting, actually; Leo's pretty bloody again."

Raph froze, turning to look at his youngest brother. So did Leo, despite his awkward position; he craned his head around the back of Raph's to stare at Mikey as well.

"You wouldn't dare," Raph growled.

"That's a lie and you know it, Mikey," Leo added.

The orange-banded turtle shrugged innocently. "Hey, no one filled me in on what happened; if I was asked, I'd just be offering a guess."

Raph grit his teeth. "Hey Leo, wouldja mind if I put ya down for a minute an' killed Mikey?"

Mikey clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Ooo, bad idea, Raphael. I'm not sure how Don would like it if you brought Leo back bloody _and_ with an infected wound."

Leo glared at Mikey. "I won't be injured forever, Mikey. Even if Don kills Raph, we know he won't kill me; he'll want me well again so he can kill me fully himself. I can find a way to escape by then, and I can kill you in about twelve different ways. Don't think I can't."

"Oh, I would _never_ think of underestimating _you_, brother dearest. But even _if_ you got past Don—which is doubtful when he's in mother-hen mode, might I add—you'd have to catch me to kill me."

"Catch you?" Leo's eyes narrowed and he chuckled. "You say that like it would be a challenge. You might be the fastest, Mikey, but who has the most endurance? Who has the best focus? _Who has the longer attention span?_"

Mikey swallowed slightly, both at the look on Leo's face and his words. _Note to self: trying to blackmail the 'nice' brother is a bad idea, because the 'nice' brother has unknown latent homicidal tendencies._ He thought quickly, trying to figure out what to do. _It's not too late to just laugh this off and pretend I was joking,_ he reasoned. He knew for a fact that Leo _probably_ would come after him, and Raph _definitely_ would; and with the hours of extra training that Leo did, he could usually run everyone else into the ground. _Speed doesn't matter much if the guy never gives up._

_Plus they both know where I live. That settles it. Self-preservation wins again!_

Waving his hands defensively, he grinned at his brothers. "I kid, I kid. You guys really are _way_ too easy to freak out."

"Besides," Mikey said carelessly, dialing Don's Shell Cell to announce that he'd found their brothers, "I don't even have to say _anything_ for this to be fun."

"Don's gonna kill you both anyways."

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"Thanks for letting me know, Mikey."

Don hung up his Shell Cell with a sharp snap, grimacing when the plastic creaked under his grip. He then set the phone down on his desk only to end up slamming it down harder than he'd intended. Biting back several vehement curses, he forced himself into a seat, resigning himself to waiting for his brothers and struggling to push back the anger that was filling him at the moment.

_They're coming back. Nothing happened, no one got hurt, and Leo stopped Raph before he did anything stupid._

Unfortunately, the thought didn't have the calming effect that it should have; on the contrary, it sent his temper flaring again.

_Leo stopped Raph. **Leo**, who is still injured. **Leo**, who should still be in bed, who still has open wounds, was **running** through the **sewers** after Raph._

_**Raph**, who went running out into the sewers deciding that he was going to become a one-turtle assassination squad. **Raph**, who thought that I'd be perfectly fine with getting knocked down and told to "relax"._

The thoughts just kept running through his head, focusing largely on his red-banded brother.

"Donatello."

"_What?_" the purple-banded turtle snapped. A split-second later, he cringed, realizing exactly whose head he had just bitten off. "Sorry, Master Splinter. What is it?"

Splinter regarded his son with an understanding smile. "Is there anything you wish to talk about?"

"Other than the fact that Raph is a stubborn, arrogant, aggravating hothead? No."

The only response Don got was silence, but it was that familiar listening patience that always made it so easy to express his problems.

He sighed as he stood and began to pace the floor. "It's just…_Raph_. It's him being—being _him_, and just—just aggravating the _shell_ out of me! We've never been the closest, not like him and Leo, but still…he ought to understand that just because I don't like confrontations doesn't mean I'm going to let people walk all over me. And I understand his desire to be on his own and do what he wants; I mean, that's what I want too, and I have my lab for that. But endangering himself for it…endangering _all_ of us just to do what he wants…I just can't understand it. I don't understand how he can never stop and think about the consequences; never think about the results of what he does. He just acts."

Splinter waited for his son to finish before he spoke up calmly. "And is envy of that fact a part of your anger?"

Don blinked in surprise. "Envy?"

"Indeed. You and your brother Raphael are nearly polar opposites, Donatello. You are intellectual, he is physical. You are more cautious by nature, he is more reckless. And as we see time and time again in cases such as this, you think ahead and weigh the effects your actions will have, while he merely lives in the present. It is not strange that you have difficulty understanding him, nor that you might wish for some of his…free-spiritedness."

"I…I guess…" Don sat down slowly, thinking over his father's words. As the silence stretched on, he sighed. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I _do_ envy Raph's tendency to just act and to hell with the consequences. Sometimes it's aggravating and tiring to always be looking ahead and trying to figure out what will occur due to a certain course of action. That's something I understand really well about Leo, his insistence on plans, and why he's so stressed so often. It's a similarity we share. So maybe…yeah, maybe part of me _is_ a little envious that Raph is uninhibited…and _careless_ and _reckless_ and _irresponsible_—"

Splinter cleared his throat slightly as his son's voice regained its vehemence. "I believe you are getting off topic, my son," he pointed out gently.

Don flushed a bit. "—and unrestrained enough to just act. I mean, shell knows that _all_ of us wanted to go after the Foot after seeing what happened to Leo. But we didn't. And yet _Raph_ did; as usual, he didn't see any problem with going off on his own and doing whatever the shell he wanted." He gave another heavy sigh. "So basically, I'm just upset over Raph being a hothead. But since I'm not likely to change, and neither is he, I guess I'll just keep dealing with it."

"Your patience is admirable, Donatello," Splinter said with a smile. "But do not feel that you must always give way to your brother's…forcefulness. Tell him how you feel."

A rather dark smile crept onto Don's face. "Or, since Raph tends to do better with actions rather than words, maybe I could show him."

Splinter's ears went back slightly. "Donatello, this is, perhaps, not the best scenario with which to fight fire with fire—"

The creak of the Lair's door cut off the rest of his words, and the three missing members of the family traipsed in through the door.

Don frowned immediately. Not only did Mikey look slightly panicked, but Raph was _carrying_ Leo. That was cause for concern, because it meant that Raph was concerned enough to show it, _and_ that Leo was in bad enough shape to allow it.

"—serious, Raph, you didn't need to carry me!" Leo's words were slightly hard to make out, given that he was flung over Raph's shoulder, but the exasperation was impossible to miss. "I'm not an invalid; I can walk perfectly fine."

Raph ignored his brother's complaints, his expression disgruntled. "Right, 'cause since Don is gonna be _so_ happy ta see me as it is, I might as well make it better by lettin' yer bloody ass walk inta the Lair all—" The rest of the sentence died in his throat as he took in the sight of Splinter and a visibly angry Don. "…Dammit," he finished tiredly, resignation swamping his features. He fell silent, leading Leo over to one of the kitchen chairs.

Don walked up to his brothers and stared at them. His eyes immediately focused on Leo and the bloody bandages on his side. "What happened?" he asked with a disturbing amount of calm.

Leo winced. "I overexerted myself and reopened my side wound a little bit."

"A little bit. I see," Don responded impassively. Without any warning, his arm snapped out and he slid a needle into Leo's arm, quickly pushing its contents into his bloodstream.

"Dammit, Don! I don't…" Leo slumped into the chair behind him suddenly, a confused and angry look taking over his face. "Frickin'…drugs…" Less than half a minute after he'd been given the shot, Leo passed out, deeply unconscious.

Raph swallowed hard and gaped at his younger brother. Don ignored him for the moment, continuing to glare at Leo's limp body. His gaze then moved to focus on Raph, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. Without saying a word, he stalked over to his computer terminal and typed in a series of characters, his movements rapid and harsh.

As soon as he entered the last key, a sequence of beeps was heard around the Lair. Raph and Mikey watched in surprise, Splinter in slight amusement, as the doors to the Lair slammed shut and locked themselves. The whirring of mechanical gears was heard, and then a final beep sounded throughout the Lair. A digital voice rang out.

"_Lock down complete. Defensive and offensive security systems activated."_

Don glanced at the computers. "Understood." Sweeping a look over his family, he explained briskly, "The Lair is now under lock down. No one is coming in, and _no one is going out_. It will be deactivated in the morning." He then walked over to Raph and fixed an icy glare on him.

"_I_ am going to go stitch Leo up. _Again_. _You_ are going to go to your room. You are going to be in your room by the time I'm finished working on Leo. You are not going to leave your room. If you leave it, I will know. And if you leave it, I will break one or both of your legs _and_ install a digital combination lock on your door."

"Donnie, I—"

Raph got no farther before Don whirled around and swept Raph's legs out from under him. He then helped Raph the rest of the way to the floor with a violent punch to the face.

The red-banded turtle went down with a flurry of pained swearing and a distinct lack of grace, landing on his rear with a loud thud.

Don stared at his brother for a long time before shaking his head. "You're an idiot, Raphael."

Raph worked his jaw carefully, wincing at his sore jaw and a split lip. He pushed the sensations aside, though, and met his brother's gaze. "Don—"

"Don't _ever_ do that again. Don't you _ever_ disregard me or this family like that again. The next time you try something like that, I _will_ break your legs."

"I won't." Raph gained his feet with a wince. "Not anymore. I swear, bro."

Don stared at him silently. "You swear."

"I do. I swear to you, I ain't gonna do somethin' like that again." He held his brother's eyes. "I'm sorry, bro."

"You're an ass, that's what you are," Don responded with a tired sigh. "Room. _Now_." Not waiting for an answer, Don turned back to Leo, wrapping his brother's arm around his shoulder and standing carefully. "We can all talk in the morning."

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Morning came early in the Lair, driven by a sense of curiosity on the parts of Splinter, Don and Mikey as to what transpired the previous night. Raph took Don aside and offered another apology, which caused Don to relent enough to give his brother one of the ice packs that he'd hidden the night before. Mikey spent his time hovering around Leo, who was remaining extremely quiet and still in an attempt to placate Don.

Once the five of them had gathered in Leo's room, Master Splinter nodded at Leo. "Leonardo, I believe we would all appreciate it if you and Raphael would tell us what occurred last night."

"Can I check on something first, Sensei?" Leo asked. When Splinter nodded, Leo turned to Don. "Could you look up someone for me in the recent flight schedules?"

Don frowned slightly in confusion. "Sure. Who is it?"

"Nakamura Tetsuo."

Another frown followed, but Don nodded and made his way out of the room. A few minutes later he returned with his laptop, sitting down and reading aloud from the screen to his family. "Alright. Mr. Nakamura Tetsuo arrived on a 1:40 a.m. flight last night from Tokyo…" Don tapped on a few keys and continued. "…And he then departed New York on a 2:50 a.m. flight last night _back_ to Tokyo."

Leo and Raph both gave a relieved sigh. "Great," Leo breathed. "Thanks, Don."

"Who is he?"

"He's the man we met last night." Leo and Raph took turns detailing the previous night's events, then waited quietly.

Splinter stared at his sons once they fell silent, then sighed heavily. "This is exactly what happened?"

"Yes, Sensei."

Don groaned. "They're like cockroaches; we finally get rid of the Foot only to find out that there's _another_ branch for us to deal with."

Mikey frowned. "But Leo said that Testy guy—"

"Tetsuo," Don corrected.

"Testy said he'd bug out and stay gone."

"How gullible can ya be, Mikey?" Raph asked with a sigh. "We're talkin' the Foot here, remember? They lie like they breathe."

"And sometimes even more often," Don added darkly. He then cringed and shot a quick glance at Leo. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Leo tried for a weak smile and shook his head, waving aside the apology.

Splinter tapped his cane on the floor quietly, then looked at Leo again. "What is your opinion on this man, Leonardo? Is he a threat?"

The three younger turtles turned their eyes towards Leo as well. Even after what had happened with Karai, they all trusted Leo's judgment when it came to reading people.

Leo dropped his gaze to the floor. "You won't want to hear it."

"Life very rarely gives us what we want, Leonardo. Please."

The eldest turtle sighed, trying to brace himself in order to deliver the bad news.

"He'll be back."

"You are certain?"

Leo nodded. "Yes. He's cut from the same cloth as Saki. He's ambitious, power-hungry, and he hates to lose. When I told him the deal I wanted to make, he seemed furious; Saki's company would probably be an extremely profitable business for him. And yet, Tetsuo also seems…different somehow. I think he's a good deal more cautious than Saki."

Splinter cocked his head to the side. "How so?"

"He went to considerable lengths in order to try and convince us that he was not a threat, or at least one that shouldn't be dealt with immediately. He vowed to leave New York, using the same method that I did, even though I could tell he was mocking me. He even pulled back from attacking me, though he probably could have overcome me easily. He did all of this in an attempt to convince me that he is a man of honor." Leo's eyes drifted to the side, a look of concentration coming over his face as he sought to get inside his enemy's head. "He said that he's the head of the branch of the Foot in Japan. That means that he probably had access to all the information from this branch; reports, data, all of it. He knows about us, including, apparently, how I feel about honor. He's trying to convince us that he also holds honor to be important. Tetsuo is being very cautious. He knows that he doesn't have any chance of winning us over, so he's trying to inoculate us in another way."

Mikey's brow furrowed. "He's trying to what?"

"Inoculate," Don repeated. "Render us harmless. Remove us as an obstacle in whatever path it is that he's on."

Leo nodded, his eyes narrowing. "He's trying to lure us into complacency, into a false sense of security. Tetsuo thinks that since the Foot are gone from the city, we'll get cocky and relax our guard. However, he has learned from Saki's mistakes; he knows not to underestimate us. Tetsuo probably knows that we don't believe him, but he's going to play that game anyway. As such, he probably plans to stay gone for a few years, but return eventually, once he's gathered enough forces and thinks that we've become careless."

Splinter fell silent as he processed Leo's words, then closed his eyes. "I believe you have the right of it, my son. How long do you think we have?"

"How long?" Leo's eyes lost their focus again as he ran through suspicions and hypotheses. "Long enough," he replied finally. "He won't underestimate us, but men like him have a limit to their patience, no matter how cautious they try to be. I'd guess…two years, maybe three at the most. By then, Tetsuo most likely thinks we'll have written him off as a threat."

"Are you sure?"

Leo turned to look at Don, who had a troubled look on his face. "What do you mean?"

"Are you sure he'll wait? What if he's only returning to Japan long enough to gather the rest of his forces and then come back?"

"That's a possibility," Leo agreed quietly. "But if I had to give you a number, I'd say that I'm eighty percent sure he won't be back for a few years."

"How, though?" Don insisted. "The worst thing we could do now would be to overestimate him and actually have him come back in a week."

"Actually, I think I'm gonna hafta go with Leo on this one," Raph spoke up suddenly. "Tetsuo is gonna take his time gettin' back here."

"How d'you know that?" Mikey asked.

"The guy's a lot like Saki," Raph said with a dark look. "He's cocky an' he's got a major power complex. When we were talkin' to 'im, one'a the things that pissed 'im off the most was the fact that the Foot branch here didn't acknowledge him as their leader. That was why he came lookin' fer Leo, so he could kill him an' have no problems gettin' this new pack of dogs ta lick his shoes. That's how we know he'll be gone for a few years; he's the kind of guy that wants complete obedience, so he'll be busy breakin' in the newbies."

"So all we can do is wait," Don murmured.

Leo nodded. "Yeah. But we've at least got the advantage of knowing that he _will_ be back and roughly when." Nodding to Don's computer, he looked at his brother. "Have you still got Tetsuo's information on there?"

Don gave a small grin. "Do you really have to ask?" Turning the laptop around to face his brothers, he showed them a screen full of data. "I've got his full name—it turns out that he actually did give you his real name—and his flight information. Give me some time and I can get a whole lot more."

"Good. Find out as much about him as you can, whatever you can. History, family, business contacts, anything you can find."

"No problem."

Leo smiled. "Thanks." Glancing around, he shrugged. "And that's as much as we can do, I suppose. We know he'll be back, so we'll be prepared for that. We'll find out as much as we can about him, about how he operates, and hopefully that will allow us to predict his moves and understand him better."

Raph scowled. "So now what?"

"Now we wait," Don said with a sigh. "And now, we are going to leave and let Leo get some rest so he can heal. _Again_."

Leo grinned sheepishly at his brother's glare. "Sounds good."

Mikey, Don and Raph all bid their brother goodbye and made their way out of the room. As Don reached the door, something clicked in his mind and he turned back into the room. "Sensei, are you coming?"

The rat turned to look at the purple-banded turtle. "In a while, my son; I wish to speak to your brother."

Don's eyes shot towards Leo. He didn't miss the split-second look of apprehension on his oldest brother's face, and hesitated a moment. Flicking his eyes between Leo and Splinter, he tried to communicate silently with his brother. _'Are you going to be alright?'_

Leo's expression softened at his brother's concern, and he gave a nearly imperceptible nod. _'I'll be fine.'_

The purple-banded turtle nodded as well, then bowed to his sensei. "We'll get breakfast started, Master Splinter. I'll bring something in for you, Leo." He shut the door gently, then sighed. Regardless of the fact that he _knew_ Leo and Splinter needed to talk, regardless of the fact that he definitely _was_ still pissed as shell at Leo for running off after Raph and reopening his wound, he knew this was probably going to be difficult for Leo.

"Hey, Don."

Don jumped slightly and turned to see Raph and Mikey waiting for him a little ways away. He couldn't help a wry smile; they were all way too curious for their own good. "Yeah?"

"What's goin' on?" Raph pressed, motioning towards Leo's room with a slight nod.

"I think they're going to…talk," Don said lamely. "About Karai." He knew the words hardly did justice to the talk they all knew was coming, but he couldn't think of any other way to explain it.

Mikey winced. "Poor Leo. That on top of this whole new thing with Testy?"

Raph scowled slightly. "I just don't see why they gotta make some big thing about this."

"Actually, I don't think they are," Don said softly. "And that's actually pretty sad."

"What're you talking about?"

Don glanced back at Leo's room, then at his brothers. "I think Master Splinter is just checking on how Leo's doing and is making sure he's aright. I don't think Sensei knows."

Raph raised an eye ridge. "Knows about wh—" His eyes widened slightly. "Wait, seriously? Ya don't think he knows that Leo an' Karai…"

"No," Don replied, shaking his head.

"_Seriously_? How d'ya know?"

"Well, I _don't_ for sure, it's just a guess. But…you know how we've all been running interference for Leo with Master Splinter?" At his brothers' nods, he continued. "Well, why have we been doing that?"

"'Cause he asked us to," Mikey answered easily.

"That's true. But it's been a while since everything happened, and we've been pretty serious about it. Can you guys think of any other reason for that?"

Raph frowned. "I dunno…but now that you mention it, it almost feels like we've been…"

"Protecting him by keeping them apart?" Don supplied softly.

Mikey and Raph nodded hesitantly.

"But…but why?" Mikey asked, his face a study of confusion. "I kinda feel like that now that you mention it, but how come? I mean, it's Master Splinter; what's there to protect him from?"

"Leo's been beating himself up about this, feeling like he's make a mistake, like he's done something wrong by falling in love with Karai. We've picked up on that, both because of what he told us and just 'cause we know him so well. But falling in love isn't something you can help or prevent; it just happens. So why would Leo feel guilty about something like that?"

Raph's frown softened and turned slightly sad as Don's words settled into his brain. "'Cause it was _Karai_ that he fell in love with…the daughter of Sensei's enemy."

"Exactly. I think we all, even Leo, subconsciously expect Sensei to be upset or disappointed with Leo because of his feelings for Karai; that's why he's been so reluctant to talk to Master Splinter, and why we've been trying to act as a buffer. But Sensei doesn't seem upset at all. I know he's realized we're getting in the way, and I think he's been confused as to why. We all expect Master Splinter to be disappointed or upset with Leo, just because of his feelings. That's not right or fair. But Sensei _isn't_ upset, which is worse, because that means he hasn't even noticed. It's like…like Master Splinter considers that such a ridiculous thing—_Leo_ falling in love with _Karai_, the Shredder—that it never really occurred to him."

Mikey spoke up suddenly. "Do you think Leo will tell him?"

Raph opened his mouth to rebuke his brother for his question, but fell silent. "I…I dunno, Mikey. Ya gotta admit, he doesn't have much reason to."

"But…but it's _Sensei_ he's talking to."

"And it's _Karai_ he loved," Don countered gently. "Leo had a hard enough time reconciling _himself_ to that fact. I don't know how willing he's going to be to tell Sensei, because as guilty as he feels for…well, for loving the enemy…he also doesn't want to be scolded for falling in love. And thankfully, he's realized that he shouldn't be."

"Damn right he shouldn't be," Raph said hotly, crossing his arms. "I never liked or trusted Karai any farther than I could throw 'er, but this ain't somethin' fer Leo ta get any crap about."

Don nodded. "Well, either way, it's not up to us. All we can do is wait and see what he does."

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Leo tried to quell the nervous tightening of his stomach as Don closed the door behind himself. Despite the face that the figure before him was one of the people he trusted the most, he couldn't help feeling slightly trapped.

_I knew we'd have to talk about this eventually, and I've already put it off longer than I should have. And—and I'm making too big of a deal out of this anyways. Sensei understood when I was taken in by Saki's lies; he'll understand how I feel about Karai, won't he?_ He bit his lip suddenly, chiding himself. _That's not right; I'm treating Karai like a lapse in judgment. Maybe trusting her wasn't right, but loving her—that wasn't something I could help. And Sensei—he might know already._ Leo took a deep breath, trying to halt his racing mind. Once he'd calmed himself, he raised his eyes to meet those of his father and mentor.

Splinter looked at his son for several moments before he spoke. "How are you, my son?"

"A little sore, to be honest," Leo said, relieved at the easy question. He knew that probably wasn't what Splinter was getting at, but he just couldn't bring himself to jump right into this.

"And what is the state of your spirit?"

Leo winced internally. _I should have known that Sensei would see through that._ He paused for a moment, trying to find a way to put his feelings into words. "I feel—strained, sort of. Like a balloon that's about to burst. I feel like there's too much that I need to process and try to deal with right now. This new threat we've found in Tetsuo and the inherent implications that go along with him, and the preparations that we need to make in response…it's a lot to have on my mind. In a way, it's harder to know that we've got this much time; I know I'm going to spend much of my time from now on thinking about him and what's going to happen. There's just so much to think about."

Splinter nodded. "This man is indeed a new threat that needs to be dealt with, and I feel that you are approaching it very well; taking advantage of the time we have been given is a wise decision. Your analysis of the situation is also very precise and well-thought out."

Some of the tension in Leo's muscles drained away. This was Master Splinter as a sensei; this was a talk about threats and preparation and tactics. This was comfortable, familiar ground. He nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Thank you, Sensei."

"And Karai…is she one of the things currently on your mind?"

Leo froze, all the tension returning to his body in an instant. _Here it comes_. Swallowing carefully, he responded. "I…not as much. I…I feel that I've dealt with what happened with her; at least, as much as I can."

Splinter nodded slowly. "I know that this was difficult for you, my son. You were close to her, which was understandable, given how similar you were."

"Yeah…" _'Close to her'…is that all you think we were? And—should I correct you?_ Leo's mind raced as he once again weighed telling his father the truth.

And like every other time, he came to the same answer.

_No._

"Yes. She was…a kindred spirit."

Another accepting nod. "It was why you clashed so often and so fiercely; you both carried the same sense of honor and the same strength, yet on opposite sides of the battlefield. I understand that you saw some good in her, and that that is the reason you sought to bring her from the Shredder's side."

Leo felt a pang in his chest at his mentor's misunderstanding, but nodded anyways.

A light paw rested on top of his hand gently, a small sign of comfort before Splinter stood to leave.

"I am glad that this does not weigh on your heart, my son. And I wish for you to know, I am not angry with you in any sense."

Despite everything, despite convincing himself that there was nothing for him to be blamed for, that still surprised him. "But Master Splinter, I—"

"Yours is a trusting nature, Leonardo; yet you are intelligent and have learned to temper that trust with caution. Karai was a difficult individual to place. She changed from ally to enemy several times; it is no fault of yours how this ended. Mistakes are made; I know this, and your brothers know it as well. We trust you, my son, and your judgment. I know that this has been a difficult and trying time for you, but thanks to your efforts, we have peace at last. Take this time as a respite from leading your brothers; there are no battles that need fought, and you have shouldered more than your share of responsibility lately."

Dozens of emotions swarmed through him, but Leo pushed them back fiercely, choosing instead to merely say quietly, "Thank you, Sensei."

Splinter gave Leo's hand a gentle squeeze, then calmly made his way out of the room. "Get some more rest, my son."

"Hai, Father."

The door closed once again.

_Father…Sensei…_Leo stared at the ceiling impassively. _Why are you the second more often than the first? Shouldn't a parent know when their child is…**was** in love?_

_And yet how can I expect **him** to recognize that when **I** couldn't even realize it until the very end?_

The conversation ran through his mind again. His apprehension had faded, but in its place was a strange sort of disappointment.

_Sensei…I've always thought that you understood me the best, but…but now you don't. Raph, Don and Mikey seem to understand what I'm going through better than you do; they saw it, so why couldn't you?_

"_I know that this was difficult for you, my son."_

_Do you? Do you have any idea how hard this was, how much pain all of this has caused?_

"_She was a kindred spirit."_

_Yes, father, that's why. **That's** why I put this family in danger. That's why I tried so hard, so many times. That's why I lost so much and felt so much pain. Just because of companionship…nothing else._ The pain in his heart deepened in disappointment. _You know so much, Sensei; you see and sense so much. How did you miss this? Looking back, I almost expected you to know before I did. But even though the others saw it, you didn't. Why? Did you think that I would never fall in love with someone who matched me so well? No…you probably didn't, because I think—I think you would have been angry with me. If not angry, then…disappointed. If you knew, it would be another "mistake", another lapse of judgment. No, I am the obedient son…I would never "disobey" or "betray" you in such a way._

Leo smiled sadly, blinking away the pricking sensation in his eyes.

_I don't know why, or when, but at some point, for some reason…I think you started being more my sensei than my father. I even think I understand why you did so…but it still hurts, Father._

The idea stung and pulled at his heart painfully, so he pushed it aside, sending his mind flicking through the rest of the conversation.

"_Take a break", huh? A break, but not a release. This leadership is still my burden to bear._

_But…but would I want it any other way? I don't think I could bear handing it over to one of the others, not after what happened. I would never wish what happened to me on one of my brothers. A broken heart…one more thing to try and protect them from. So that means…_

_Nothing changes. It will all stay the same._

_No, not completely the same. Don understands about Karai, I know he does…and I think Mikey does too. And Raph…he's trying. He understands about the burden of leading, at least. But Sensei…_

_Can I expect him to understand? Is it right for me to want him to change?_

_I guess it's not possible to always be a father **and** a sensei. I guess sometimes it has to be one or the other. I just…_

_I just wish he would choose 'father' more often._

Leo shook himself and took a deep breath, pushing back his regret._ I need to be thankful for what we **do** have. We're all still alive, and we achieved what we thought was impossible: the destruction of the Shredder and the Foot, for good. Never mind that we have to deal with Tetsuo; that will come later. We have our lives, our friends' lives, and peace. We can stop fighting for now, and everything will go back to normal. That's a great victory in and of itself, and we paid a much smaller price than I ever would have expected. I don't even mind that I'm the one that paid that price; I was able to protect my family, and that's worth anything...even a chance at love. Everything has a price; this was the price that had to be paid for peace, and...and if I had to, I would pay it again._

A sad smile crossed his lips as he began to drift back off to sleep.

_Sacrificing love for love...happiness for family..._

_Everything's back to normal.  
_

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**A/N: Hoo-hah! Another one bites the dust! And another long one, too; 26 pages, which might hopefully make up for another way-too-long hiatus between updates. The epilogue will be pretty short, though; just sort of a wrap-up of the last remaining bits and pieces. Basically just…epilogue-y. XD**

**I hope this chapter met to everyone's satisfaction. The Splinter/Leo scene was an interesting one to write; their relationship holds so many possibilities in situations like this. And I really do think that Leo gets a lot less of a father than a sensei, and fairly often too. That was one thing that was a little hard to convey; Splinter is really understanding and sharp, but I still feel like he…I don't know…can miss things sometimes. (I hope that made some kind of sense to someone, 'cause it didn't make much to me.) XD Anyway, I just hope that that part of the chapter came out well. I hope the _entire_ chapter came out well, but that part especially.**

**Anywho, that's all I can think of. I'm pretty happy with this chapter too, though I'm decidedly _not_ happy that I made you guys wait a month for an update, _AGAIN_. Sigh. Gomen. I do apologize for that. If you still love me, review? Even if you don't and you just want to rail at me for a bit, that's fine too; goodness knows I've been asking for it. :D Either way, please R I really appreciate your support, it really does mean a lot to me. Thanks a ton, and take care!**


	11. Epilogue: What Must Be Shall Be

_**Disclaimer**__: I don't. We know I don't, but I still have to repeat myself. Sigh._

_It's over!!! I can't believe my second story is actually finished! I'm pretty freaking proud of this one, and I hope everyone has enjoyed it. Sorry again for the wait between chapters, but the school year is wrapping up, and all of my teachers seem to want to cram as many projects, tests and papers into these last few weeks as they possibly can. . But I have triumphed, nonetheless:D Though I can't believe how short this chapter is…it's like short chapters are alien to me now. XD_

_Thanks very much to everyone who reviewed Chapter 10: __**BubblyShell22, greshunkai, Eridani23, **__and__** CelicaChick**__. All the support I've gotten from everyone throughout the course of this story has been amazing. It's been so great to know that you all like this, and to know that people are still sticking with me even when it's taken me so long to finish this story. Thanks so much for all your support!!!_

_Anyways. Like I said before, I'll be taking a little break from big stories for a while; I'll mostly only be posting one-shots every once in a while. I've felt really bad about how often I've left you guys hanging for weeks on end, and I'm beginning to see that posting during the year isn't going so well. So I'll probably be writing like crazy this summer, building up like a story buffer so that I can have finished stories to post during the school year. I'm going to be branching out a little bit too, so when I post, it might be in this fandom or in Naruto, which is quickly becoming another obsession. XD But don't expect anything else until after mid-May, because the end of the semester is practically here!!! I've only got two weeks of classes left, but then I've got a week of exams. . And then there's packing and moving back home and all such madness, so it'll be a while. I WILL keep writing though (like you could stop me XD), so no fear. _

_And as most of you have guessed, yes, there will be a sequel! XD Wooo! Lol. I'm not sure if that will be the next big story I write or not; it depends on which plot bunny bites me first and hardest once I'm home for the summer. But at least you guys aren't left with a terrible cliffy, I made sure I didn't do that to you. Other than that…yeah…that's all I can think of, so I'm going to stop babbling and let you guys read the last installment of What We Could Have Been._

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A soft wind blew quietly through a silent cemetery in New York, chasing leaves through the alleys of grave markers and around a lone figure sitting quiet in the moonlight. A whisper broke the silence.

"It's been a month, you know. Since you died. Since…I killed you. It's so strange to think that you're gone, that our battle is over. I've spent so many years of my life fighting, facing one battle after another, that I don't think I ever thought we'd actually see an end. I wanted to, of course; that was always our goal, mine and the others', to bring this feud to an end and finally get to live in peace. But somehow…I don't think I ever expected it to come true. After it had already gone on for so long, I just…I don't know. I thought that battle was our new way of life."

The figure sighed, the end of the action breaking into a sad chuckle.

"Some life, huh? When pain and fighting are normal, and peace and freedom aren't."

Leo looked down at the name on the gravestone in front of him.

_Oroku Karai_

He sighed and traced his fingers over the carved letters. "Things are…quiet in New York now. The Purple Dragons have been lying low, trying to regroup after Hun's death. They don't seem to have the drive, brains or ability for the kinds of things Hun ordered when he was in charge; we haven't had to break up anything worse than the occasional mugging and a couple convenience store hold-ups." Leo snorted. "Rather, _my brothers_ haven't had to; I've been confined to the Lair for recuperation. I'm all healed now, though…if you care…" He trailed off, staring at the headstone. "I'd like to think you do."

For several minutes, the sound of leaves and the wind in the trees were the only noises in the graveyard.

"I don't know how to feel about you. It seems like any emotion I have towards you is wrong in some way. I feel sad, because I've lost the one person I believe could understand me best in the world…but then I feel like that is wrong, because you attacked me and my family. You were our enemy, no matter what either of us wanted, and you would have killed us all, given the chance. I feel relieved about your death, for the sake of me and my family. But then for that, I feel sick, like I'm some kind of monster for being glad about the death of my…of you. I still don't know what to call you, how to explain what you are, what you _were_ to me. Karai…I suppose that's the only way I can describe you with one word, is with your name. And if I miss you or feel guilty, I feel like I'm somehow lying to myself, that I'm only remembering the good things, and that I'm—letting you off the hook for what you did. But I can't do that; like I told you, Karai, I won't be responsible for anyone else's burdens anymore. I won't blame myself for your choices, or hate myself for doing what I had to do." Leo sat straighter, looking straight at the name carved in marble. "I regret what happened…but not what I did."

As though the words had cost him dearly in strength, Leo sagged back on his haunches and lapsed into silence. After a few minutes, he gave a quiet sigh and raised his voice. "You guys can come out now."

A series of muffled curses sounded from behind him before his brothers emerged from the nearby copse of trees.

Mikey gave a strained laugh and rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, hey, Leo! Um, fancy meeting you here…" he rambled weakly.

"It's alright, Mikey. I don't mind you being here."

Don walked up and laid a gentle hand on Leo's shoulder. "How long have you been out here, bro?"

"No more than a couple hours."

"That's not going to do your leg any favors. I told you it's still going to be prone to soreness for a while because of your injury."

Leo smiled slightly and rested his hand on top of his brother's. "I know, Don. This isn't going to become a regular occurrence, I just…I needed to come here. It's the first time I've been able to." His smile turned sarcastic. "Or rather, the first time I've been _allowed_ to."

"Hey, fer all the times you've babied us an' been a freakin' parole officer every time we get hurt, ya better believe it's yer turn ta get the same treatment," Raph pointed out with a smirk.

"Oh, so your concern has only been in the name of payback?" Leo joked wryly.

Raph frowned. "You know that ain't true—"

"I know, Raph. I was kidding. I do appreciate everything you guys have done for me, how you've been there for me since…"

"Since your battle with Karai," Don supplied carefully.

"Yeah…" Leo glanced down at his hands. "Did…did any of you watch the funeral?" he asked suddenly.

The three younger turtles glanced at each other uncomfortably.

Leo turned to look at them with a slight smile. "I'm not asking because I expected you to watch it. I was just wondering."

"No, we didn't," Don answered.

"I only saw the very beginning and end when I was takin' care of the tape," Mikey said.

Leo nodded and turned back to the headstone. "It was closed casket."

Raph rubbed the back of his head. "Kinda had to be, didn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so." He was silent again. "They said it was heart complications."

"Hm?"

"Heart complications. That's why they said she died."

"Well, they couldn't really give people the truth. And when you think about it, having your heart stop is definitely a complication," Mikey joked weakly, trying to lighten his brother's melancholy.

Don and Raph both punched Mikey.

Leo gave a sad smile. "I guess you're right. It felt so wrong to see that funeral. There was no one there for her to speak for her, no one who really knew her. No friends, no family…she died alone."

"No, she didn't, Leo," Don spoke up suddenly.

"What?"

"She had you."

Leo's hands fisted. "I loved her," he whispered softly.

There was nothing anyone could say to that.

"We should go, Leo," Don said finally.

Leo nodded and coughed slightly. "Could…someone help me up?"

His brothers chuckled, glad for the easing of tension. Don helped Leo to his feet, sighing good-naturedly.

"As a brother and family medic, I could claim the right to say something about your current loss of mobility and your stiffness," he remarked mildly as Leo stretched out his leg and winced. "But since I believe in being the bigger person, I won't say it."

"Say what, Don?" Mikey asked innocently.

Don grinned at his brother for the desired lead-in. "Oh, nothing, just…I told you so."

Raph and Mikey snickered while Leo sighed.

"Thanks, Don," the blue-banded turtle said dryly. "You're an example to us all in humility."

The four of them began their walk out of the graveyard, keeping to the nighttime silence until the older turtles noticed that Mikey had stopped a few feet behind them.

"Mikey? You okay, bro?" Don asked.

Mikey shrugged, his eyes fixed on the cityscape. His brothers followed his eyes and easily picked out the form of the Saki building, the old Foot headquarters. The youngest turtle glanced at his brothers.

"It…it's going to start again, isn't it?"

"Yes. Not for a while, but yes, it will start again. For now, though…we're free." Leo gave a weary smile, gazing up at the star-studded night sky. "For now, it's over. For now, we have peace."

The four of the lapsed into silence, the full import of their victory finally sinking in.

"Wow…" Mikey breathed.

Raph shook his head, slightly dazed. "I gotta say, I never thought we'd actually see the end of it," he admitted. "No more Shredders, no more Foot flunkies…"

Don smirked. "Whatever _will_ you do with your time now, Raph?" he asked dryly. "No more ninja to beat up—"

"Except, you know, for us," Mikey pointed out. "I doubt Raphie's gonna lay off of that."

"No more midnight outings—"

"Except, you know, for going after Purple Dragons," the youngest interrupted again cheerfully.

Don sighed and rubbed at his temples. "Despite those admittedly good points, it will still be a step down from Raph's usual propensity for violence and rampant destruction."

"Hey! Don't talk about me like I ain't here!"

"I'm not. I'm fully aware that you're listening, but you can't deny that what I'm saying is true," Don pointed out. He sighed. "For that matter, I can hardly imagine what _I_ will do now. I'll have so much free time now that I'm not going to be bandaging people up and fixing demolished equipment…"

"So instead you plan to build _more_ equipment?" Leo asked knowingly.

Don grinned. "Hey, a turtle's got to stay busy. Which brings me back to my previous thought; how are we going to keep Raph occupied now?"

"Raphie-boy could take up knitting!" Mikey suggested cheekily. "You know, get some culture, expand his horizons, get in touch with his sensitive side—ack!"

Raph had cut off Mikey's words with a rough headlock, scowling at his youngest brother. "If I knit anythin', shell-fer-brains, it'll be a muzzle or a noose fer _you_."

"Not that I don't think it's a good idea, Raph, but neither of those items are traditionally knit," Don inserted.

"Whatever. I'll just choke 'im with the thread, then."

"Knitting uses yarn."

"What_ever_!"

"Geez…Raph, you…really _do_ need some culture…" Mikey wheezed with a grin.

"Just as I believe Michelangelo needs some air, Raphael," a quiet voice pointed out mildly.

All four turtles turned at those words to see Master Splinter standing behind them, cocking an amused eyebrow at Raph and Mikey.

Raph sighed and dropped his youngest brother on the ground.

Splinter shook his head and gazed at his sons. He then turned and stared in the same direction they had. "I must say, I still struggle to come to terms this course of events as well, my sons. After every war, peace often seems too good to be true. But we have it now, thanks to you." He faced the four quiet teens behind him once more. "I did not think that my burden, my quest would have become yours like it did. It is not what I wished for you."

"I don't think we coulda avoided it, Sensei," Raph said with a shrug. "Turtle luck an' all that."

"Perhaps," Splinter acquiesced. "Still, I did not want you to be the ones who would have to end things." His eyes then drifted towards Leo, who had glanced back up the hill at Karai's grave. Splinter sighed. "I did not want you to be the ones who would have to suffer for it."

Moving forward, the ancient master padded quietly to his eldest son's side. "Come, my son, let us go," Splinter said gently, laying a paw on Leo's shoulder. "This is a place for the dead, and our place is in the land of the living. No matter who we have lost, they have gone where we cannot follow. It is a painful lesson, and one I had hoped none of you would ever have to learn in such a way, but sometimes continuing to live is the hardest part of life."

Leo let his father's words sink into his soul, allowing them to join with his brother's similar attempts to relieve his pain. As each day went by, he could feel himself healing, slowly but surely. And now at last, the balm of his family's support had closed the wound. As for the rest, Leo knew only time could ease the pain of what had happened. Slowly removing his eyes from Karai's tombstone, Leo took a deep breath and nodded hesitantly. "You're right, Sensei; let's go."

His family turned away and began the trek back home, leaving Leo a last minute alone. He lingered for only a moment, looking back and whispering quietly to the headstone before he turned and followed his brothers and father.

Another breeze blew, rattling the leaves of the cemetery and waving the branches until everything seemed to whisper the same word…

"_Goodbye…"_

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Don sighed as he walked towards his room, the evening's affairs running through his mind. Leo had been the first of them to be in love, and even beyond that, his situation was so difficult and still so raw that none of them had any words for him.

_Not there are really too many words anyone could say in a time like this._

A glimpse of blue caught Don's attention as he gained the living room, and he glanced up to see Leo standing alone on one of the metal walkways. The purple-banded turtle hesitated only a moment before changing his course. He padded up the stairs quietly and approached his brother. Leo kept his position, staring silently out over the Lair, though Don could tell that he was seeing something far beyond the brick walls of the foundry.

Hoping that he wasn't intruding, he took up a position next to Leo, joining him in leaning against the railing. The two turtles spent several minutes in silence before Don spoke.

"There's this old quote, a very famous one, by Alfred Lord Tennyson," he said quietly, afraid to break the silence or his brother's peace.

"What is it?" Leo asked, his gaze never wavering.

"'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.'"

At those words, Leo finally turned to glance at his brother. "He said that?"

"Yeah."

Leo stared at his brother for a while before once again turning away. "And did he ever love?"

Don nodded and continued in a soft voice. "A lot of people have disputed his words over the years, taking both sides. Some people agree, saying the good outweighs the bad; others disagree, saying they'd rather have spared themselves the pain that their memories caused rather than having had the chance to make those memories in the first place." He turned his head to look at his brother. "What about you, Leo? Do you think it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?"

Leo stared ahead into nothing, running his memories of Karai through his head. He remembered the things he'd learned, the things he'd lost, and everywhere his relationship with Karai had taken him. Don's question echoed in his mind until he felt he'd found his answer.

"No…I think I'm going to have to disagree with Lord Tennyson," he said softly. He pushed off of the railing and began walking towards his room. "So many months of pain, for a _minute_ of love…"

Leo's last words wafted back to his brother, tugging at his heartstrings.

"I think I would prefer never to have loved at all."

Don sighed to himself. They'd done everything they could, but this pain, this wound was one that only time could heal. As Don watched Leo's door close, a handful of lines softly came from his lips.

"_From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,  
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.  
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes  
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;  
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows  
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.  
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,  
And the continuance of their parents' rage,  
Which, but their children's end…nought could remove.__"_

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**A/N: It's done! My second story is officially done…and really depressing. XD While I was sitting here typing this, I was actually thinking of having Leo's answer to Don be "yes", but then I thought about it and I'm like "am I insane? This is a really crappy deal! Only a masochist would think it was worth it!" So you guys got this ending instead. I think it fits better anyways. This isn't meant to be a happy story, and as such, it doesn't get a happy ending. I think it's a fitting ending, though, and hopefully you guys will agree. I also hope that no one thinks the lines there at the end from "Romeo and Juliet" are too hokey or cliché; with all the parallels between the two stories, and just how nicely **_**final**_** those lines are, it seems good to me. I wasn't even going to try and put the "Never was there a story of more woe", because that's just off the cliché charts. (I will, however, admit that I did actually sit here and admire how well "Never was there a story of more woe/than this of Karai and Leonardo" fit and matched the actual words.) And just as a note, the chapter title is also a line from "Romeo and Juliet"; I thought that was pretty fitting too. Please like the ending:D**

**Once again, I would like to thank all of my readers and reviewers SO MUCH for their support. I can't tell you guys what it means to me, so thank you all very much. I hope to see you again at my next story, and thanks for bearing with me through this one. Please R&R, take care, and God bless.**


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